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CIHM/ICMH 

Microfiche 

Series. 


CIHIVi/ICMH 
Collection  de 
microfiches. 


Canadian  Institute  for  l^istorical  IVIicroreproductions  /  Institut  Canadian  de  microreproductions  historiques 


Technical  and  Bibliographic  Notas/Notat  tachniquaa  at  bibliographiquaa 


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to 


Tha  Inttituta  has  attamptad  to  obtain  tha  baat 
original  copy  availabia  for  filming.  Faaturas  of  this 
copy  which  may  ba  bibliographically  uniqua, 
which  may  altar  any  of  tha  imagas  in  tha 
reproduction,  or  which  may  significantly  change 
the  usual  method  of  filming,  are  checked  below. 


I    y1    Coloured  covers/ 
LZJ    Couverture  de  couleur 


I      I    Covers  damaged/ 


D 


D 
D 


D 


Couverture  endommag6e 


Covers  restored  and/or  laminated/ 
Couverture  restaur^  et/ou  pelliculAe 


□    Cover  title  missing/ 
Le 


titre  de  couverture  manque 

loured  maps/ 
Cartas  giographiquas  en  couleur 

Coloured  ink  (i.e.  other  than  blue 

Encre  de  couleur  (i.e.  autre  que  bleue  ou  noire) 


I      I    Coloured  maps/ 

I      I    Coloured  ink  (i.e.  other  than  blue  or  black)/ 


I      I    Coloured  plates  and/or  illustrations/ 


D 


Planches  et/ou  illustrations  en  couleur 

Bound  with  other  material/ 
RailA  avac  d'autres  documents 

Tight  binding  may  causa  shadows  or  distortion 
along  interior  margin/ 

La  re  liure  serr^e  peut  causer  de  I'ombre  ou  de  la 
distortion  le  lot  ,,  de  la  marge  intArieure 

Blank  leaves  added  during  restoration  may 
appear  within  the  text.  Whenever  possible,  these 
have  been  omitted  from  filming/ 
II  se  peut  que  certaines  pages  blanches  aJout6es 
iors  d'une  restauration  apparaissant  dans  le  texte, 
mais,  lorsque  cela  Atait  possible,  ces  pages  n'ont 
pas  6t6  filmtes. 

Additional  comments:/ 
Commentaires  supplimantaires; 


L'Institut  a  microfilm^  la  meilleur  exempiaira 
qu'il  lui  a  At*  poasibia  da  sa  procurer.  Lea  details 
da  cat  exempiaira  qui  sont  paut-Atre  uniquaa  du 
point  da  vua  bibliographique,  qui  peuvent  modifier 
une  image  reproduite,  ou  qui  peuvent  exiger  une 
modification  dans  la  mAthode  normale  de  filmaga 
sont  indiquAs  ci-dassous. 


I     I   Coloured  pages/ 


D 


Pages  de  couleur 

Pages  damaged/ 
Pages  endommagAas 

Pages  restored  and/oi 

Pages  restaurAes  et/ou  pelliculAes 

Pages  discoloured,  stained  or  foxe« 
Pages  dAcolorAes,  tachetAes  ou  piquAes 

Pages  detached/ 
Pages  dAtachAes 

Showthrough/ 
Transparence 

Quality  of  prir 

QualitA  inAgale  de  I'impression 

Includes  supplementary  matarif 
Comprend  du  matAriel  supplAmentaira 

Only  editfon  available/ 
Seuie  Adition  disponible 


I     I  Pages  damaged/ 

I — I  Pages  restored  and/or  laminated/ 

rr/l  Pages  discoloured,  stained  or  foxed/ 

I      I  Pages  detached/ 

r~l  Showthrough/ 

I      I  Quality  of  print  varies/ 

I      I  includes  supplementary  material/ 

I — I  Only  editfon  available/ 


Pages  wholly  or  partially  obscured  by  errata 
slips,  tissues,  etc.,  have  been  refilmed  to 
ensure  the  best  possible  image/ 
Les  pages  totalament  ou  partiellement 
obscurcies  par  un  fauillet  d'errata,  une  pelure, 
etc..  ont  AtA  filmAes  A  nouveau  de  fapon  A 
obtanir  la  meilleure  image  possible. 


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Ce  document  est  filmA  au  taux  de  rAduction  indiquA  ci-dessous. 


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14X 


18X 


y 


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12X 


16X 


aox 


26X 


30X 


a4x 


28X 


3 


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The  copy  film«d  h«r«  Hm  lM«n  r«produc«d  thanks 
to  th«  gonorotlty  of: 

Library  of  the  Public 
Archive*  of  Canada 


L'axompiairo  f ilmA  f ut  roproduit  grAce  A  la 
gAnAroaitA  da: 

La  bibliothAque  da*  Archival 
publiquas  du  Canada 


The  Images  appearing  here  are  the  best  quality 
possible  considering  the  condition  and  legibility 
of  the  original  copy  and  In  keeping  with  the 
filming  contract  specifications. 


Las  Images  suivantes  ont  AtA  reproduites  avec  le 
piua  grand  soin,  compte  tenu  de  la  condition  et 
de  la  nettetA  de  I'exempieire  fllmA,  et  en 
conformltA  avec  les  conditions  du  contrat  de 
filmage. 


Orlginel  copies  In  printed  paper  covers  are  filmed 
beginning  with  the  front  cover  and  ending  on 
the  last  page  with  a  printed  or  iiluatrated  Impres- 
sion, or  the  back  cover  when  appropriate.  All 
other  original  copies  are  filmed  beginning  on  the 
first  page  with  a  printed  or  Illustrated  impres- 
sion, and  ending  on  the  laat  page  with  a  printed 
or  illustrated  Impression. 


The  last  recorded  frame  on  each  microfiche 
shell  contain  the  symbol  — ^-  (meaning  "CON- 
TINUED"), or  the  symbol  V  (meaning  "END"), 
whichever  applies. 


Les  exemplaires  orlginaux  dont  la  couverture  en 
papier  est  ImprimAe  sont  filmAs  en  commenqant 
par  le  premier  plat  et  en  terminant  soit  par  la 
dernlAre  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'impresslon  ou  d'lllustration,  soit  par  le  second 
plat,  salon  le  cas.  Tous  les  autres  exemplaires 
orlginaux  sont  filmAs  en  commengant  par  la 
premlAre  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'impresslon  ou  d'illustration  et  en  terminant  par 
la  dernlAre  page  qui  comporte  une  telle 
empreinte. 

Un  dee  symboles  suivants  apparattra  sur  la 
dernlAre  Image  de  cheque  microfiche,  seion  le 
cas:  le  symbols  — ^  signifie  "A  SUIVRE",  le 
symbols  y  signifie  "FIN". 


IMaps,  plates,  charts,  etc.,  may  be  filmed  at 
different  reduction  ratios.  Those  too  large  to  be 
entirely  Included  in  one  exposure  are  filmed 
beginning  in  the  upper  left  hand  corner,  left  to 
right  and  top  to  bottom,  as  many  frames  as 
required.  The  following  diagrams  illustrate  the 
method: 


Les  cartes,  planches,  tableaux,  etc.,  peuvent  Atre 
filmAs  A  des  taux  de  rAductlon  diff Arents. 
Lorsque  le  document  est  trop  grand  pour  Atre 
reproduit  en  un  seul  clichA,  11  est  filmA  A  partir 
de  I'angle  supArieur  geuche,  de  gauche  A  drolte, 
et  de  haut  en  bes.  en  prenant  le  nombre 
d'images  nAcessaire.  Les  diagrammes  suivants 
lllustrent  la  mAthode. 


1 

2 

3 

1 

• 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

A   LETTER 


TO 


THE  REV.  THOMAS  CHALMERS,  D.  D. 


PROFESSOR  OF  DIVINITY   IS   THE   UNIVERSITY  OF   EDINBI'RCH, 


The  reader  is  requested  to  correct  tlie  foUoiDing  Errata,  ichich  oecured  in 
transcribing  tfte  manuscript. 

Page  3,  line  6,  erase  the  words  "  at  Markinch." 

12,  line  3,  for  "  raises"  read  rouses. 

13,  line  4  from  bottom,  for  "  eight"  read  eighteen. 
17,  line  5,  for  "  in  efficiently"  read  and  efficiently. 

511,  line  18,  for  "fAeir  leading  truths"  read  these  leading  truth?. 
40,  line  9,  after  '•  {September"  insert  1835. 


; 


NEW-YORK: 

rUDLISHED  BY  SWORDS,  STANFORD,  AND  CO. 
No.  152  Broadway. 

1832. 


A   LETTER 


TO 


THE  REV.  THOMAS  CHALMERS,  D.  D. 


PROFESSon  OF  DIVINITV   I.V   THE    UNIVERSITY  OP   EDINBI'ROH, 


ON   THE 


LIFE  AND  CHARACTER 


OF 


THE   RIGHT   REVEREND   DR.  HOBART, 


BISHOP  OF  NEW-YORK,   NORTH-AMEKICA 


NEW-YORK: 

PUBLISHED  BY  SWORDS,  STANFORD,  AND  CO. 
No.  152  Broadway. 

1832. 


"v\ 


NEVr-YORK  : 

PRINTED  BY  EDWARD  J.  SWORDS 
No. 3  Ihamet-sti-oef. 


A  LETTER 


TO 


THE  REV.  THOMAS  CHALMERS,  D.  D. 

PROFESSOR  OF   DIVINITY   IN   THE   UNIVERSITY  OF   EDINBURGH. 


My  dear  Friend, 

In  the  death  of  Dr.  Andrew  Thomson,  Edinburgh  has 
lost  a  powerful  and  eloquent  preacher,  and  the  Church 
of  Scotland  a  zealous,  bold,  and  uncompromising  de- 
fender. He  was  near  my  own  age;  but  as  he  studied  at 
Edinburgh,  and  I  at  St.  Andrew's,  our  acquaintance  was 
slight.  Once  visiting  at  his  father's  house  j^i^MnTlcinohT 
in  the  summer  of  1799, 1  found  him  playing  on  the  violin. 
The  conversation  turned  on  music,  on  which  he  spoke 
with  great  warmth,  I  may  rather  say,  with  enthusiasm. 
Soon  after  I  left  Scotland,  and  never  saw  him  more. 
But  Dr.  Thomson  was  too  much  in  the  public  eye  to  be 
overlooked  or  forgotten;  and  I  have  often  admired  his 
firmness  and  intrepidity  of  character,  when  I  could  not 
sympathize  in  the  cause  for  which  he  was  contendino-. 

If  your  Church  has  great  reason  to  lament  the  loss  of 
one  of  her  most  sturdy  pillars,  still  greater  cause  has  the 
Episcopal  Church  of  the  United  States  to  mourn  the 
premature  departure  of  Bishop  Hobart,  whose  eminent 
services  have  mainly  contributed  to  her  present  extensive 
and  flourishing  condition.   Many  years  have  passed  away 


since  I  hnd  the  imppincsH  of  i)(HM>iniii;^;  a€(]uainte<l  with 
this  hife^hly  gifted  prelate.  Tlie  learned  and  aruinhle  Dr. 
Bowden,  a  lunne  that  will  ever  he  dear  to  the  friends  of 
true  religion  and  the  rising  Protestant  (church  of  Morth- 
Anierica,  hronght  us  togetiier  during  a  short  excursion 
which  I  made  to  New- York  in  Fehruary,  18l($;  and 
whether  from  a  similarity  of  disposition  and  kindred 
minds,  or  some  other  cause,  I  know  not,  but  we  were 
intimate  friends  from  the  fust  moment.  I  loved  the 
frankness,  the  warmth  and  energy  of  his  character,  and 
recognised  at  once  those  sterling  qualities  which  so  emi- 
nently fitted  him  for  the  discharge  of  the  weighty  duties 
of  his  exalted  station. 

The  life  of  Dr.  Hobart  is  identified  with  the  history  of 
the  Chiu'ch  of  which  he  was  so  distinguished  an  orna* 
mcnt ;  and  as  my  sketch  will  introduce  you  to  one  of  the 
most  curious  and  interesting  portions  of  the  annals  of 
Christianity,  you  will  not  be  displeased  at  the  length  of 
this  letter,  nor  at  the  decided  preference  which  I  give  to 
my  Churcli»cg:id  her  institutions,  a?  it  is  not  greater  than 
you  are  in  the  habit  of  manifesting  for  your  own. 

In  the  British-American  settlements,  before  the  revo- 
lution, no  attention  whatever  was  paid  by  the  imperial 
government  to  the  religious  instruction  of  the  colonists : 
in  this  matter  they  were  left  entirely  to  themselves ;  and 
of  all  denominations,  the  Church  of  England  was,  from 
the  natm'c  of  its  government,  the  nM)st  destitute,  and 
laboured  under  the  most  serious  difiiculties;  they  were 
indeed  so  great,  that,  had  not  the  Society  for  the  Propa- 
gation of  the  Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts  taken  pity  upon 
her  members,  and  sent  them  missionaries,  an  episcopal 
clergyman  vould  have  been  hardly  found  in  British 
North-America  at  the  a3ra  of  the  revolution.  The  Planr 
tations,  as  the  colonies  were  then  called,  were  considered 


5 


a  part  of  the  spiritiml  cliurgc  of  the  Bishop  of  Tiomloii, 
but  no  prelate  of  the  Churcli   had   ever  heliehi  them. 
The  clergy  and  parishes  were  without  superintemleuee ; 
the  churches  and  huriul  grouud.s  remained  unronsecrated ; 
tlio  children  were  witliout  confirmation;  ami  every  can- 
didate for  the  ministry  was  under  the  ncccHsity  of  going 
to  Euro[)e  for  ordination — a  voyage  so  dangerous,  from 
the  imperfect  state  of  navigation  at  that  period,  that  no 
less  than  onc-fifth  of  the  young  men  wiio  aspired  to  serve 
the  Lord  in  the  sanctuary,  perished  in  the  ocean.   Placed 
in  circumstances  so   melancholy,   is  it  to  ho  wondered 
that,  after  the  declaration  of  independence  and  the  se- 
paration of  the  two  countries,  the  members  of  the  Church 
of  England  were  few  in  number,  and  many  of  the  con- 
gregations destitute  of  clergymen  ?    These   events,    so 
gratefid  to  the  United  States  in  a  political  point  of  view, 
brought  to  Episcopalians  a  fresh  subject  of  regret ;  for 
the   Society  in   England,    by  whose   munificence   their 
clergymen  \nu\  been  supported,  was  induced,  from  change 
of  circumstances,  to  transfer  its  assistance  to  the  colonies 
which  still  continued  to  be  faithfidly  attached  to  the  British 
crown. 

In  September,  1775,  while  the  Church  continued  in 
this  state  of  depression,  and  when  civil  dissensions  began 
to  assume  a  serious  aspect,  John  Henry  Ilobart  was  born 
at  Philadelphia.  From  his  earliest  years  he  took  a  strong 
interest  in  religion,  and  though  the  Church  could  offer 
no  allurements  to  the  sanguine  and  ambitious,  he  deter- 
mined to  devote  talents  which  might  have  raised  him  to 
the  highest  rank  in  any  profession,  to  the  preaching  of 
the  Gospel.  While  preparing  for  holy  orders,  he  was  in 
constant  communication  with  Bishop  White,  the  venerable 
fojther  of  the  Church — a  prelate  worthy  of  the  apostolic 
age.     Much  have  I  desired  to  see  this  meek,  wise,  and 


0 


holy  servant  of  God,  the  ancient  friend  of  my  spiritual 
father,  Dr.  Stuart,  of  Kingston ;  and  I  still  hope  to  enjoy 
this  privilege,  hcfore  we  arc  removed  from  this  sublunary 
habitation. 

In  1798,  Mr.  Ilobart  was  admitted  into  holy  orders; 
and,  even  then,  the  Episcopal  Church  seemed  hardly  to 
have  gained  any  ground ;  she  was  scarcely  known  out  of 
the  great  towns  on  the  sea-coast,  and  could  only  number 
ninety  clergymen  north  of  Maryland,  of  which  seventeen 
belonged  to  Pennsylvania,  and  twenty  to  the  state  of 
New- York.  After  a  probation  of  two  years  in  different 
country  parishes,  where  he  is  still  held  in  affectionate 
remembrance,  the  vestry  of  Trinity  Church,  New- York, 
hearing  of  his  great  abilities,  invited  him  to  become  one 
of  their  assistant  clergymen.  Mr.  Hobart  was  in  his 
twenty-sixth  year  when  this  flattering  ofler  was  made; 
the  parish  was  the  most  ancient  and  populous  in  America, 
and  opened  a  field  of  usefulness  in  a  great  degree  com- 
mensurate with  his  expanding  talents.  In  his  letter  to 
the  vestry  he  says — '*  The  best  evidence  that  I  can  give 
of  my  feelings  will  be,  to  act  in  all  cases  with  fidelity 
and  independence,  governed  only  by  a  sincere  regard  to 
the  sacred  dictates  of  conscience  and  duty.  The  station 
would  require  the  judgment  and  experience  of  more 
advanced  years.  I  shall  therefore  have  a  peculiar  claim 
on  the  friendship  and  counsel  of  the  vestry,  on  the  can- 
dour and  support  of  tha  congregation,  and  on  the  affec- 
tionate advice  -and  aid  of  my  superiors  and  brethren  in 
the  ministry.  Thus  strengthened  and  supported,  while  I 
endeavour  faithfully  to  discharge  my  duty,  I  trust  that  I 
jmay  hope  for  the  presence  and  blessing  of  Almighty 
God." 

Though  young  when  he  came  to  N*:  v-York,  his  ma- 
turity of  understanding,  soundness  of  judgment,  and 


masculine  sense,  enabled  him  to  discharge,  with  increas- 
ing advantage  to  the  Church,  the  arduous  duties  which 
the  station  imposed;  and  his  elder  colleagues,  to  their 
lasting  honour,  acknowledged  him,  from  the  first,  to  be 
more  than  equal,  in  every  thing  that  required  command- 
ing intellect  or  talents  for  business.  The  parish  being 
very  large  and  populous,  his  labours  were  incessant ;  but 
it  was  his  life  to  promote  the  spiritual  and  moral  welfare 
of  every  individual  under  his  care;  and  it  seemed  that 
the  more  he  multiplied  his  duties,  in  attending  to  the 
wants  of  the  poor,  in  visiting  the  sick,  in  preparing  for 
the  stated  services  of  the  Church,  the  less  heavy  did  they 
sit  upon  him.  There  was  a  diligence,  an  ardour,  an 
elasticity  of  mind,  a  devotion  to  his  profession,  a  gratifi- 
cation in  doing  good,  which  kept  him  always  fresh  and 
vigorous.  Indeed,  his  whole  conduct  proved  most  clearly 
his  readiness  to  spend  and  to  be  spent,  that  he  might 
promote  the  glory  of  God  in  the  spiritual  edification  of 
bis  children,  and  gave  an  efficacy  to  his  parochial  minis- 
trations which  has  seldom  been  surpassed ;  and  although 
they  were  somewhat  obscured  by  the  splendour  of  his 
Episcopacy,  they  never  were  remitted,  or  failed  to  pro- 
duce the  most  precious  and  abundant  fruit. 

Of  his  services  in  the  sanctuary  I  am  little  competent 
to  speak,  having  only  heard  him  two  or  three  times ;  yet, 
even  from  these,  I  can  easily  conceive  why  he  should 
have  become  so  dear  to  his  people.  I  felt  the  eloquent 
ardoui  with  which  he  poured  out  to  his  listening  atidicnce 
the  truths  of  eternal  life,  and  the  vigour  of  that  mind 
which  enabled  him  to  wield  with  so  great  effect  the  wis- 
dom of  the  divine  word,  and  to  command  assent,  even 
when  he  failed  to  produce  permanent  conviction.  It 
was  impossible  to  hear  him  without  becoming  sensible  of 
the  infinite  importance  of  the  Gospel.   He  warn       coun- 


soiled,  entreated,  and  comforted,  with  intense  and  jwwcr- 
ful  energy.  His  manner  and  voice  struck  you  with  the 
deep  interest  which  pervaded  his  soul  for  their  salvation, 
and  found  ready  entrance  into  their  hearts. 

He  appeared  in  the  pulpit  as  a  father  anxious  for  the 
eternal  happiness  of  his  children — a  man  of  God  prepar- 
ing them  for  their  Christian  warfare — a  herald  from  the 
other  world,  standing  between  the  living  and  the  dead, 
between  heaven  and  earth,  entreating  perishing  sinners, 
in  the  most  tender  accents,  not  to  reject  the  message  of 
reconciliation  which  the  Son  of  the  living  God  so  gra- 
ciously offered  for  their  acceptance. 

Not  only  was  he  carefiU  that  his  doctrine  should  bo 
sound  and  scriptural,  but  that  the  proportion  maintained 
between  its  various  parts  should  coincide  as  far  as  pos- 
sible with  the  inspired  models ;  that  each  Christian  prin- 
ciple should  occupy  its  proper  place,  and  the  whole  counsel 
of  God  be  unfolded,  so  that  no  one  part  of  revealed  truth 
s^hould  be  presented  with  a  frequency  and  pre-eminence 
which  might  cast  any  other  in  the  shade.  To  perfect 
the  man  of  God,  he  placed  the  Gospel  before  his  congre- 
gation in  its  twofold  aspect,  as  it  is  calculated  to  inspire 
some  with  confidence  and  joy,  and  others  with  vigilance 
and  fear^  His  preaching  was  that  of  the  Apostles :  he 
taught  that  purity  of  life  was  inseparable  from  true  faith, 
and  that  the  Christian  duties  derive  all  their  force  and 
authority  from  a  personal  reliance  of  the  heart  and  soul 
on  the  efficacy  of  the  atoning  sacrifice  of  the  Son  of  God. 
His  power  as  a  preacher  was  not  only  perceived,  but  felt. 
The  precise  and  minute  adaptation  of  his  ministrations 
to  the  state  of  his  hearers,  the  ease  with  which  he  en- 
tered into  the  diversified  workings  of  their  hearts,  and 
the  knowledge  which  he  displayed  of  their  thoughts  and 
practice,  could  only  be  exhibited  by  one  who  possessed 


9 


id 
id 


sometliing  of  an  intuitive,  yet  profound  discernment  of 
human  nature,  added  to  an  extensive  and  discriminating 
observation  of  liuman  conduct,  in  every  varied  situation 
of  common  life. 

There  was  not  only  a  feebleness,  but  something  of  a 
deadness  in  the  Church,  when  Mr.  Hobart  commenced 
his  ministry  in  New- York.  The  retiring  timidity  of  her 
Jeading  members,  however  amiable,  and  the  very  infirm, 
health  of  Bishops  Provoost  and  Moore,  encouraged  the 
chiefs  of  another  Christian  denomination,  ever  the  deter- 
mined opponents  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  to  attack  her 
with  more  than  their  usual  violence.  But  a  defender  had 
arisen  whom  they  knew  not  of.  Dr.  Hobart,  unfurling 
the  banner  of  evangelical  truth  and  apostolical  order, 
marched  with  fearless  intrepidity  to  the  front  of  the 
battle,  and  put  the  enemy  to  flight.  Thousands  were 
astonished  to  find  that  the  claims  of  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  Church,  both  in  purity  and  government,  could 
be  so  firmly  established,  and  that  she  was  so  strongly 
entitled  to  the  character  of  primitive  and  apostolic;  Not 
satisfied  with  defeating  her  enemies,  and  proving  that 
her  foundation  was  the  Apostles  themselves,  Dr.  Hobart 
continued  to  enlighten  the  public  mind  in  her  forms  and 
liturgy,  in  a  series  of  works,  no  fewer  than  six  in  num- 
ber, published  between  1£04  and  1811.  The  consequence 
of  these  publications,  and  other  able  works  on  the  same 
subjects,  which  have  since  followed  from  different  writers, 
has  been,  that  a  more  general  and  correct  knowledge 
now  exists  among  the  people  of  our  communion  in  the 
United  States,  respecting  the  government  of  the  Church, 
the  beauty  and  excellence  of  her  forms,  the  purity  of  her 
principles,  and  the  spirituality  of  her  devotions,  than  even 
in  England;  and  all  this  chiefly  owing  to  Dr.  Hobart's 
judicious  and  powerful  labours  while  yet  a  presbyter. 


10 

The  appointment  of  Dr.  Ilobart,  at  this  seasonable 
period,  to  the  conspicuous  station  of  minister  of  the  most 
prominent  parish  in  North-America,  has  always  ap- 
peared to  me  a  special  gift  of  Divine  Providence  towards 
the  furtherance  of  the  true  Church.  Completely  master 
of  her  primitive  usages  and  principles,  lie  applied  them 
with  a  readiness  and  perspicuity  to  the  questions  in  agi- 
tation, that  astonished  the  religious  readers  of  all  de- 
nominations, most  of  whom  were  totally  ignorant  of  the 
sacred  claims  of  Episcopacy,  and  disposed  to  consider 
the  forms  of  church  government  and  apostolic  order 
matters  of  inferior  importance.  Instead  of  reposing  any 
longer  on  loose  opinions,  taken  up  without  examination 
in  these  matters,  people  were  roused  to  their  considera- 
tion by  his  cogent  reasons,  apt  illustrations,  and  powerful 
appeals  to  ecclesiastical  history,  which  proved,  beyond 
controversy,  that  the  government  of  the  Church,  the 
orders  of  tlie  ministry,  and  their  regular  succession  from 
the  Apostles,  were  not  questions  of  slight  moment,  or  to 
be  treated  safely  either  with  silence  or  contempt.  Dr. 
Hobart  seemed  to  bring  strange  things  to  their  ears; 
there  was  a  novelty  in  his  arguments  which  bewildered 
those  who  were  ignorant  of  the  history  of  the  first  ages 
of  Christianity,  and  many  found  it  as  difficult  to  divest 
themselves  of  their  unreasonable  prejudices  against  Epis- 
copacy, as  the  heathens  their  propensity  to  idolatry,  on 
the  first  preaching  of  the  Apostles* 

Truth  is  never  sown  without  fruit ;  and  the  claims  of 
the  Church  to  a  near  affinity  with  that  of  the  Apostles, 
soon  began  to  be  acknowledged  by  numbers  who  had 
been  hitherto  her  enemies.  Many  admitted,  with  true 
Christian  candour^  their  total  ignorance  of  such  matters 
till  thus  forcibly  brought  before  them ;  and  that  never 
having  seen  till  now  the  three  orders  of  the  ministry, 


11 

Bishops,  Priests,  and  Deacons,  conducting  the  govern- 
ment and  worship  of  the  Church,  they  were  not  aware 
of  its«!»uperior  excellence.  Even  those  who  still  adhered 
to  modern  innovations  in  the  government  and  ministry 
of  their  churches,  were  compelled  to  treat  with  respect 
the  claims  of  Episcopacy  to  primiJve  purity  and  order, 
and  no  longer  to  hold  them  up  as  novelties,  or  incon- 
sistent with  the  principles  of  the  Gospel. 

In  all  discussions  in  which  he  was  engaged  relating  to 
the  constitution  and  discipline  of  the  Church,  there  was 
an  earnestness  and  uprightness  of  proceeding  which 
commanded  universal  esteem.  Among  his  own  people 
he  was  considered  a  sure  interpreter  of  the  laws  and 
polity  of  the  Christian  Church.  Even  when  most  ani- 
mated amidst  the  conflict  of  debate,  he  was  found  always 
standing  upon  Gospel  principles,  and  sternly  opposed  to 
any  thing  like  artifice  or  manoeuvre.  In  controversy, 
whether  oral  or  from  the  press,  he  came  directly  to  the 
point,  disdaining  all  sophistry  or  quibbling,  as  unworthy 
of  the  cause :  these  were  arts  so  repugnant  to  his  high 
feelings,  that  he  could  not  have  used  them  had  they  been 
laid  before  him.  He  therefore  gave  full  weight  to  the 
arguments  of  his  opponents,  placed  them  in  their  strongest 
point  of  view,  and  sought  not  to  misstate  or  evade  them ; 
much  less  did  he  descend  to  any  thing  personal ;  this  the 
natural  dignity  of  his  mind  would  never  permit  him  to 
employ.  He  depended  entirely  upon  his  honesty  of  pur- 
pose, his  knowledge  of  facts,  and  ready  application  of 
principle ;  and,  whether  from  the  press  or  pulpit,  or  his 
more  private  ministrations,  all  his  exertions  were  united 
and  harmonized  into  one  predominating,  overpowering 
object,  the  increase  and  prosperity  of  the  Church ;  and 
in  this  light  only  can  his  character  be  accurately  appre- 
ciated. 


it  has  been  often  said,  that  the  blood  of  the  martyrs 
became  the  seed  of  the  Church;  and  the  same  may  be 
said  of  controversy,  which  elicits  truth,  andiwrbe^men 
from  their  slumbers  to  the  contemplation  of  the  most 
important  subjects,  subjects  which  they  may  have  long 
forgotten  or  disregarded.  To  those  who  were  ijitimately 
acquainted  with  Dr.  Ilobart,  my  dwelling  upon  his  con- 
troversy with  Dr.  Mason,  on  tlie  subjects  of  primitive 
truth  and  order,  will  be  easily  excused,  as  the  whole 
tenour  of  his  future  policy,  and  I  will  add,  that  of  the 
Church,  turned  upon  its  success ;  for  from  his  first  work 
on  the  subject  we  may  date  the  rapid  increase  of  the 
Episcopal  communion  in  the  United  States. 

As  no  prelate  of  the  Church  of  England  had  ever  been 
sent  to  the  colonies  up  to  the  period  of  the  revolution,  no 
Episcopal  act  had  ever  been  performed  on  this  side  of 
the  Atlantic.  But  now  that  the  connexion  with  Great- 
Britain  was  dissolved,  it  became  necessary  to  provide 
for  the  continuance  of  the  Church  by  a  regular  succes-? 
sion  of  Bishops.  Accordingly  Dr.  Seabury  was  sent  to 
England,  to  be  raised  to  the  Episcopate;  but  so  many 
difficulties  intervened,  that  he  was  obliged  to  repair  to 
Scotland,  and  was  consecrated  by  the  Episcopal  commu- 
nion in  that  country,  in  1784.  Soon  after,  the  difficulties 
which  stood  in  the  way  of  Dr.  Seabury's  consecration 
were  removed  by  an  Act  of  the  British  Parliament,  and 
Dr.  Provoost  and  Dr»  White  were  consecrated  at  Lam- 
beth, in  1787, 

The  arrival  of  three  Bishops  was  a  new  sera  in  the 
Church,  and  the  cause  of  much  joy  to  her  friends;  but 
as  a  very  few  years  had  yet  elapsed  since  the  return  of 
peace,  she  might  even  at  this  time  be  said  to  be  scarcely 
known.  During  the  war,  most  of  her  clergy,  then  mis- 
sionaries from  the  Society  for  Propagating  the  Gospel  in 


13 


Foreign  Parts,  had  fled  to  En«^land  or  the  other  colonics, 
and  their  flocks  were  scattered ;  and  we  need  not  there- 
fore he  much  surprised  to  And  that  the  principles  of  the 
first  Protestant  Church  in  the  world  were  in  a  great 
measure  unknown  in  the  United  States,  and  that  the 
church  government  which  accorded  with  the  first  and 
purest  ages  of  the  Gospel,  was  deemed  quite  a  novelty, 

•  

without  the  sanction  of  antiquity  or  precedent.  The 
people,  accuslomed  only  to  the  Presbyterian  or  Congre- 
gational form  of  government  and  discipline,  and  naturally 
prone  to  equality,  were  little  disposed  to  encourage  a 
denomination  which  was  said  to  give  too  much  power  to 
Bishops,  and  to  be  unfavourable  to  republican  institu- 
tions. The  public  mind,  poisoned  by  ten  thousand  calum- 
nies against  prelacy  and  forms  of  prayer,  was  to  be 
cleansed  and  truly  informed,  before  it  was  possible  for 
the  Church  to  increase.  For  some  time  the  enemies  of 
Episcopacy,  sensible  of  their  advantage,  remained  silent 
on  the  subject  of  church  government  and  order.  Finding 
the  first  Bishops  humble  men,  of  retiring  habits,  though 
conscientious  in  the  quiet  and  unobtrusive  discharge  of 
their  duties,  they  did  not  consider  it  prudent  to  attack 
what  they  affected  to  represent,  and  what  thousands  of 
their  followers  believed  to  be  a  new  denomination.  To 
have  persevered  in  this  policy  would  have  been  their 
wisdom;  but  the  dignified  aspect  in  which  the  Protestant 
Church  was  now  seen,  with  its  Bishops  multiplying  in 
number,  and  the  respect  which  naturally  attaches  to  that 
highly  spiritual  office,  gradually  produced  an  accumula- 
tion of  envy,  which  could  be  ^lo  longer  restrained  within 
bounds,  and  burst  forth  in  1805,  or  eight^ears  after  the 
arrival  of  the  Bishops  in  9,  most  violent  attack  upon  the 
Church. 

The  moment  was  propitious  to  our  Zion.   Her  master 


14 

spirit,  ytt  little  known,  suddenly  appeared,  and  wielded 
the  weapons  of  controversy  with  such  effect,  as  to  dis- 
comfit her  assailants.  Not  satisfied  with  mere  defence, 
he  stormed  the  enemy's  camp,  and  proved,  to  the  satis- 
faction of  every  well-conditioned  and  unprejudiced  mind, 
that  no  church  government  but  that  of  Episcopacy  was 
known  during  the  first  fifteen  centuries  of  the  Christian 
ffira.  This  controversy  has  continued  ever  since  to  arrest, 
from  time  to  time,  the  public  attention,  and  always  to 
the  manifest  advantage  of  primitive  order.  The  Ameri- 
cans are  an  acute  and  inquiring  people,  and  the  discus- 
sions on  church  government  and  the  forms  of  prayer 
have  awakened,  in  the  minds  of  many,  recollections  of 
what  tlieir  fathers  had  been.  On  others,  who  had  their 
denomination  to  choose,  the  information  drawn  out  by 
these  debates  came  as  a  stream  of  benignant  light,  and 
a  feeling  in  favour  of  the  good  old  ways  was  widely 
engendered.  This  being  the  case,  it  only  required  an 
active  superintendence  and  a  commanding  mind  to  reap 
the  most  abundant  harvest.  This  requisition  Dr.  Hobart 
most  amply  satisfied :  he  laid  the  foundation,  as  a  pres- 
byter, of  that  success  which  crowned  his  Episcopate,  and 
which  has  placed  the  Church  upon  the  vantage  ground. 
That  I  am  fully  justified  in  this  observation,  the  remarks 
already  made  sufficiently  prove;  but  we  have,  in  addition, 
the  extraordinary  fact,  that  in  1798,  when  he  was  or- 
dained, New- York  state  contained  but  twenty  Episcopal 
clergymen;  and  in  1811,  when  he  was  raised  to  the 
mitre,  only  twenty-three;  giving,  in  thirteen  years,  a 
miserable  increase  of  three;  while,  during  the  following 
nineteen  years  of  his  Episcopate,  the  increase  was  one 
hundred  and  eleven. 

On  his  advancement  to  the  Episcopate,  the  force  and 
elevation  of  his  character,  entirely  free  from  all  envy  and 


15 


meanness,  placed  him,  by  common  consent,  at  the  head 
of  the  bench.     His  brethren  knew,  from  experience,  the 
truth  and  accuracy  of  his  judgment  and  devotion  to  tlie 
prosperity  of  the  Church,  and  leaned  with  confidence  on 
his  clear  views  and  singular  firmness:  and  well  they 
might,  for  Bishop  Hobart  reflected  deeply,  and  examined 
cautiously,  before  coming  to  a  decision;  but  having  once 
formed  his  opinion,  he  was  resolute  in  maintaining  it. 
This  rendered  him  steady  and  uniform  in  all  his  pro- 
ceedings.   But  although  fixed  in  all  questions  of  import- 
ance, on  which  he  had  been  at  pains  to  inf^^rm  himself, 
on  matters  not  involving  truth  and  principle  he  w»iS 
gentle  and  accommodating,  and  won  the  esteem  and 
afifection  of  his  associates  by  the  most  kind  and  delicate 
deference  to   their   sentiments  and   feelings.     He  was 
neither  vain  nor  obtrusive;  but  at  all  times,  when  the 
occasion  required,  prompt  in  action  and  expression — 
sometimes  vehement,  and  occasionally  in  danger  of  trans- 
port, but  always  ready,  with  a  manly  and  affable  frank- 
ness, to  make  every  concession  for  the  warmth  of  the 
moment.   With  a  full  determination  to  maintain  what  he 
believed  to  be  true,  and  keenly  interested  in  the  success 
of  every  discussion  in  which  he  engaged,   he  seldom 
oflended  his  adversaries ;  for  it  was  to  the  subject,  and 
not  to  the  man,  that  he  addressed  himself;  and  while  he 
handled  the  weapons  of  controversy  with  overwhelming 
force,  he  manifested  an  utter  abhorrence  of  calumny  and 
slander.     We  felt  it  natural  to  give  way  to  Dr.  Hobart; 
nor,  in  doing  so,  did  any  one  perceive  his  own  importance 
lessened;   for  the  Bishop  was   formed  to  exercise  an 
ascendrency  over  those  with  whom  he  associated,  without 
ever  appearing  desirous  of  acquiring  it.     In  yielding  to 
him,  it  seemed  as  if  we  were  giving  away  nothing,  but 
only  falling  into  the  ranks  of  our  leader.    When,  there- 


16 


tore,  he  ilcpurtcd  tVoiii  this  scene  ul'  liin  activity,  aiul  tiie 
lumcntution  was  without  parallel,  his  brethren  felt,  and 
still  feel  it  no  disparagement  to  have  it  said  that  the 
greatest  of  them  all  is  no  more. 

On  becoming  Bisho))  of  New- York,  a  country  nearly 
as  large  as  England,  it  appeared,  in  as  far  as  his  Church 
was  concerned,  a  moral  waste.  His  people  were  not 
merely  few  in  number,  but  intermixed  with  a  great  mul- 
titude of  various  denominations,  and  with  many  v«'ho  had 
no  knowledge  of  religion;  and  how  was  he  to  proceed? 
He  believed  that  the  Church  to  which  he  belonged  was 
the  one  best  calculated  to  diAuse  Christianity  through 
the  world,  and  establish  it  on  a  permanent  foundation ; 
but  what  was  her  situation?  In  his  diocese  he  saw  a 
very  few  scanty  flocks,  and,  even  of  these,  some  without 
she]>herds;  single  families  or  individuals  scattered  through 
the  new  settlements ;  but  how  were  they  to  be  gathered 
together  ?  He  had  no  shepherds ;  the  Church,  in  her 
depressed  state,  offered  no  incentives  to  the  young ;  she 
had  neithe**  rank  nor  affluence  to  confer;  and  he  felt 
that,  till  he  multiplied  the  clergy,  and  thus  had  instru- 
ments in  his  hands,  she  must  remain  in  her  forlorn  state. 
How  could  he  build  up  the  Church  of  Christ,  in  her 
ordinances  and  faith,  without  an  efficient  ministry  ?  He 
therefore  set  himself  to  bring  forward  young  men  worthy 
of  the  sacred  office,  to  multiply  their  number,  and  raise 
the  standard  of  their  attainments.  This  great  and  me- 
ritorious object  called  forth  his  solicitude,  and  incessant 
and  untiring  efforts;  and,  blessed  be  God,  his  anxious 
perseverance  in  this  good  work  was  at  length  crowned 
with  success.  But,  long  before  the  Theological  Semi- 
nary attained  that  noble  state  of  efficient  prosperity  to 
which  it  1ms  now  arrived,  in  how  many  sons  of  the 
Church,  while  pursuing  their  studies  for  the  ministry, 


17 


I 


S  buthintg<&lf oouldJL 

amy  Vofficicntly  to  IBw$'^ 


nnd  after  they  became  preachers,  did  he  take  the  liveliest 
interest !  How  many  were  indebted  to  him,  not  only  for 
direction  and  advice,  but  for  endeavours  the  most  numc^ 
rous  and  incessant,  which  few,  if  any, 
have  made  suitably  to  provide  for  them, 
promote  and  advance  their  success !  Through  every/ 
channel  that  he  could  conceive,  he  sought  for  them 
scenes  of  usefulness,  and  seconded  their  views  when 
worthy  of  support.  To  how  many  churches  and  parishes, 
not  in  his  own  diocese  only,  but  through  the  whole  Union, 
was  he  thus  the  honoured  instrument  of  sending  heralds 
of  the  Gospel  to  labour,  and  to  teach,  and  to  watch  for 
the  souls  of  the  people,  as  they  who  had  to  give  an  ac- 
count unto  God !  When  we  consider  that  this  good  has 
been  vastly  augmented,  and  placed  upon  a  permanent 
footing,  by  his  exertions  in  estabUshing  the  Theological 
Seminary,  it  will  not  be  easy  to  calculate  the  amount  of 
spiritual  benefit  which  has  accrued  from  this  portion  of 
his  labours  to  the  Church  and  country.  The  present 
generation  are  enjoying,  and  future  generations  will 
more  abundantly  reap  the  benefit ;  and  in  eternity,  when 
ministers  and  people  meet  before  the  throne  of  retribu- 
tion, the  mighty  results  of  the  Bishop's  efforts  in  these 
particulars  will  be  fully  disclosed.  Here  it  is  refreshing 
to  mention  the  grateful  testimony  poured  from  the  affec- 
tionate heart  of  one  of  the  many  sons  whom  he  brought 
forward  to  the  Church,  and  who  has  proved  himself 
highly  worthy  of  his  protection.*  While  the  candidates 
for  the  ministry  had  no  regular  instructor,  he  was  their 
friend  and  teacher,  conversing  with  them  with  the  free- 
dom of  a  brother,  and  endeavouring  with  parental  anxiety 
to  correct  their  errors  and  cultivate  their  good  qualitiei?. 


"  Dr.  Berrian  in  his  Sermon  on  the  Death  of  Bishop  Hobart 

8 


IS 


■^Mft 


and  to  mould  their  undcrstandiii^H  nnd  diisponitions  to 
the  conscientious  discharge  of  tho  duties  of  the  nncred 
ofTico  to  which  they  aspired.  Mc  tnii^i^ht  them  to  consider 
Christia.nity  a  rule  of  life  whicli  had  come  perfect  nnd 
entire  from  ffi  hands  of  its  Author;  that  it  admitted  of 
no  improvements  nor  mutilations — not  a  word  is  to  be 
added,  nor  one  taken  away :  it  rests  upon  a  foundation 
not  to  be  moved  by  tho  advance  of  science;  for  it  is 
already  perfect,  fixed,  and  immutable.  Nor  did  he  en- 
courage fanciful  and  speculative  views  of  Christianity ; 
for  though  it  is  noble  and  intellectual,  yet  its  practical 
influence  on  the  heart  and  the  understanding  is  the  great 
end  which  the  preacher  should  have  in  view  in  addresHin<>: 
the  people*  In  reading  the  Scriptures,  he  maintained 
the  right  of  private  judgment,  with  a  proper  deference  to 
the  light  thrown  upon  them  by  able  and  pious  men ;  but 
he  discouraged  fanciful  allegories  and  philosophical  theo- 
ries, from  whatever  quarter  they  might  come,  as  leading 
us  away  from  the  simplicity  of  the  Gospel  truth,  and 
engendering  pride  instead  of  humility.  He  considered 
the  decent  forms  and  ceremonies  retained  by  our  Church, 
as  helps  and  scaffoldings  necessary,  in  the  present  state 
of  existence,  to  prevent  too  much  abstraction,  and  to 
remind  us  that  religion  is  an  every-day  business,  and 
ought  to  enter  into  all  our  concerns;  and  while  it  ia 
equally  distant  from  wild  fanaticism  and  the  vagueness 
of  cold  philosophy,  it  inculcates  the  most  precious  truths, 
living  and  divine—truths  which  renew,  exalt,  and 
strengthen  alike  our  understandings  and  affections:  that 
it  supplies  the  most  powerful  motives  to  assimilate  our- 
selves to  the  perfections  of  God,  to  elevate  our  souls 
above  the  fleeting  objects  of  this  world  to  the  real  and 
unseen,  and  to  prefer  an  heavenly  inheritance  to  all  that 
this  life  has  to  bestow.     He  neither  dealt  in  imaginary 


It 

intci'protutionr^,  nor  aniithcmntized  human  life,  uo\  con* 
(JernnfMl  liiiiimn  nntiiro  in  terms  which  rcvrlatici  docfi 
not  use;  hut  he  pren^scd  conviction  homo  upon  th?  con- 
science with  the  severity  of  truth,  rout  open  the  dehisionN 
«if  infidelity,  and  broke  to  pieces  the  vain  and  he  How 
l)illars  of  worldly  confidence,  while  he  poured  the  halm 
of  Gospel  consolation  into  the  hearts  of  the  weary,  the 
wretched,  and  the  penitent-  It  is  the  doctrine  of  tho 
atonement,  he  would  say,  which  gives  to  the  Gospel 
messa^^e  its  true  character  of  joy,  and  which  shall  at 
length  reconcile  and  regenerate  the  world.  This  great 
truth,  if  preached  with  acceptance  ond  power,  will  not 
fail  to  increase  our  congregations,  and  become  a  bond  of 
reunion  between  believers  and  heaven.  The  atonement 
is  the  cord  of  true  love  let  down  from  the  upper  sanctuary 
among  a  sinful  race,  and  it  proves  to  all  who  take  hold 
of  it,  the  conductor  along  which  the  virtues  of  heaven 
descend  upon  them. 

Having  thus  provided  for  a  well  educated  clergy,  he 
was  strenuous  in  his  exhortations,  in  season  and  out  of 
season,  to  urge  them  to  the  faithful  performance  of  their 
duty,  in  his  frequent  addresses  at  the  Convention,  and 
in  his  eloquent  charges ;  and  this  with  a  single  eye  to  the 
glory  of  their  Master,  and  to  the  purity  of  that  Church 
which  he  purchased  with  his  blood.  Zealously  watching 
the  spiritual  fold  intrusted  to  them  as  vigilant  watchmen, 
he  warned  them  against  all  ojHnions  and  practices,  how- 
ever sanctioned  by  popular  favour,  which  would  deform 
by  heresy,  or  rend  by  schism,  the  mystical  body  of  their 
Redeemer.       '  '    "• 


,1   J  !r 


The  primitive  order  of  the  Church,  in  Bishops,  Pres- 
byters, and  Deacons,  they  were  to  maintain.  This  was 
not  to  be  considered  a  matter  of  indifference,  or  non- 
essential, but  of  the  utmost  importance ;  for  it  had  con- 


90 


tinued  without  interruption  fifteen  centuries :  nor  is  tlicro 
in  the  history  of  Christiauity  a  single  Church  whicli  lias 
remained  one-third  of  that  time  under  any  other  system 
of  government,  nor  an  example  of  any  successful  and 
permanent  pr<^agation  of  the  Gospel  v/ithout  the  super-* 
intendence  of  Bishops.  The  apostolic  constitution  of  the 
Church  requires  not  to  be  accommodated  to  times  and 
circumstances,  to  the  state  of  society,  or  the  character 
of  civil  governments ;  for  it  is  essentially  spiritual,  and 
capable  of  e:»  ■"♦:ing  vith  effect  under  every  possible  form 
of  civil  policy.  Its  ministrations  are  suitable  to  all  na-' 
tions,  and  to  all  times ;  *'  for  my  kingdom,"  saith  Jesus, 
"  is  not  of  this  world;"  and  they  are  best  calculated  for 
perfecting  the  believer  unto  the  measure  of  the  stature 
of  his  divine  Master* 

The  Bishop  spoke  of  the  beauty,  unction,  and  effect 
of  the  liturgy  with  affectionate  admiration,  as  the  first  of 
uninspired  compositions ;  so  correct  and  affecting  in  its 
exhibition  of  evangelical  truth,  and  so  well  calculated  to 
preserve  the  faith,  that  while  it  was  in  daily  use,  the 
Church  could  not  fall  away  from  the  purity  of  the  Gospel* 
The  liturgy  shows  that  the  faith  and  practice  of  our 
Church  is  founded  on  the  corruption  of  human  nature, 
which  leads  to  actual  transgression ;  and  by  making  our 
best  works  unworthy  of  4ivine  acceptance,  renders  man 
guilty  in  the  sight  of  God*  It  teaches  that  a  deep  and 
pern^anent  conyictipn  of  this  corruption  and  unworthiness 
humbles  man  before  his  Maker  and  his  Judge,  and  dis- 
poses hiiH  cordially  to  embrace  the  doctrine  of  salvation 
through  the  grace  and  merits  of  a  divine  Redeemer.  It 
teaches  that  we  arc  saved  from  the  guile  and  dominion 
of  sin  by  the  favour  and  sufferings  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  received  in  the  exercise  of  faith  and  penitence, 
in  union  with  his  Church,  in  participating  pf  the  sacrt^^ 


31 


ments  and  ordinances  from  the  hands  of  his  authorized 
ministry.  These  are  the  principles  which  distinguished 
the  Church  in  her  first  and  purest  state;  they  arc  the 
principles  taught  and  enforced  in  all  the  forms  and 
usages  of  our  holy  communion,  and  they  are  the  only 
principles  which  can  restore  purity  and  unity  to  the 
Christian  family,  now  deformed  bud  distracted  by  here- 
sies and  schisms.  Bishop  Hobart  firmly  believed  that 
the  Church  was  one,  not  as  consisting  of  one  compact 
society,  but  because  the  various  societies  or  churches 
were  modelled  by  the  Apostles  on  the  same  principles, 
and  ought  ever  to  be  so,  namely,  one  Lord,  one  Spirit, 
one  baptism;  and  that  Bishops,  Priests,  and  Deacons 
were  the  regular  and  appointed  agents  of  the  Church,  to 
dispense  the  truths  intrusted  to  its  care,  as  contained  in 
the  New  Testament,  each  according  to  his  office.  He 
could  not  recognise,  as  a  true  Church,  any  bod^of  pro- 
fessing Christians  who  differed  from  him  in  th^  leading 
truths,  and  who  had  not  among  them  a  separate  order, 
consisting  of  Bishops,  Priests,  and  Deacons,  duly  ap- 
pointed to  officiate  in  a  course  of  ministerial  duties. 
These  duties  or  offices  were  designed  by  our  Saviour  to 
be  perpetual;  and  it  follows  as  a  necessary  inference, 
that  it  is  a  perpetual  obligation  in  his  followers  to  have 
a  distinct  order  to  succeed  the  first,  for  the  purpose  of 
discharging  them.  This  obligation  was  universally  ac- 
knowledged and  acted  upon  by  the  Church,  from  the 
days  of  St.  Paul,  till  the  pride  of  Calvin,  raising  him  in 
his  own  conceit  above  the  Apostle,  tempted  him  to  ques- 
ition,  and  then  to  overturn  it ;  but  it  is  an  obligation  still 
felt  aod  adhered  to  by  the  purest  portion  of  the  Christian 
family.  Here  we  have  the  key  of  Bishop  Hobart 's  con- 
duct as  a  minister  pf  the  Christian  Church ;  it  is  clear 
4iiid  simple,  and  easily  accounts  for  that  firm,  uncom- 


^ 


promising,  and  con^  .^tcnt  coiir.sc  of  proceeding  which  he 
pursued  during  his  laborious  life,  through  good  report 
and  bad  report. 

Acting  on  such  principles,  Bishop  Hobart,  as  might 
have  been  expected,  highly  disapproved  of  different  de- 
nominations uniting  for  religious  purposes,  and  held  in 
abhorrence  all  attempts  to  separate  education  from  reli- 
gion.    He  believed,  and  I  think  justly,  that  the  popula- 
rity •  >f  these  two  principles,  and  the  influence  which  their 
practice  has  had  upon  the  civilized  part  of  the  world 
during  the  last  forty  years,  has  done  more  to  produce 
indifl*erence  to  religion,  sap  the  foundations  of  Chris- 
tianity, and  multiply  the  ranks  of  infidelity,  than  all  the 
irreligious  publications  which   have,   during   the  same 
period,  issued  from  the  press.     He  placed  himself,  from 
the  first,  in  mild  but  firm  opposition  to  thj  Bible  Society. 
He  considered  such  an  institution,  so  far  as  his  commu- 
nion walrconcerned,  totally  unnecessary,  because  every 
good  which  it  proposed  might  be  much  better  and  more 
conveniently  accomplished  by  the  orthodox  Society  al- 
ready belonging  to  the  Church;  and  should  this  Society 
deem  it  expeaient  to  circulate  a  larger  proportion  of 
Bibles  than  had  been  hitherto  done,  it  was  fully  in  their 
power  to  increase  their   subscription  for  this   express 
purpose.     He  deemed  the  Bible  Society  further  objec- 
tionable, because,  having  the  same  object  as  the  Bible 
and  Prayer  Book  Society,  it  became,  from  the  first,  a 
sort  of  rival,  absorbed  funds,  in  as  much  as  our  people 
assisted,  which  in  justice  belonged  to  the  latter.    Such  a 
general  institution  was  further  to  be  deprecated,  as  it 
could  not,  in  any  degree,  be  under  the  direction  or  con- 
trol of  Church  people,  who,  mixed  up  with  many  denomi- 
nations, would  become  a  minority.     It  was  therefore 
evident  that  the  adversaries  of  the  Church  would  pre- 


^ 


23 


serve  their  asccmlciicy,  and  prevent  any  salutary  influ- 
ence from  being  exerted  on  the  part  of  out  people,  unless 
subservient  to  their  views.  When  it  was  argued  that 
much  practical  good  flowed  from  the  union  in  England 
and  that  the  same  benefit  would  follow  the  establishmerit 
of  the  Bible  Society  in  the  United  States,  he  questioned 
the  fact,  always  \/ith  warmth,  and  sometimes  with  in- 
dignation. The  countenance  which  was  given  to  such  a 
Society  by  many  members  of  the  Church  of  England, 
was,  he  said,  very  detrimental  to  their  own  establish- 
ment, and  that  far  more  good  might  have  been  eflbcted 
through  their  own  Church  institution  for  Promoting 
Christian  Knowledge :  that  it  lifted  the  Dissenters  to  an 
equality  with  the  Church,  and  enabled  them  to  act  in  a 
compact  body  against  her  interests,  to  which  they  were 
always  sufficiently  inclined:  that  they  made  the  distri- 
bution of  the  Bible  an  instrument  of  influence,  for  it  was 
a  notorious  fact,  that  Church  people  were  seldom  or  ever 
employed  in  this  service.  He  declared  that  such  asso- 
ciations were,  from  their  very  constitution,  detrimental 
to  the  Church ;  and  if  we  sincerely  believe  that  her  prin- 
ciples are  more  pure  than  those  of  n.'^v  other,  that  she  is 
the  best  suited  to  disseminate  (rospei  truth  in  its  most 
spiritual  and  efficacious  manner,  in  what  way  shall  we 
reconcile  it  to  our  own  consciences  to  associate,  for 
religious  purposes,  with  those  who  diflfer  from  us  in 
many  of  what  we  believe  to  be  the  most  essential  articles 
of  our  holy  faith  ? 

When  liberality  of  sentiment  was  pleaded,  he  repelled, 
with  honest  fervour,  that  sickly  prostration  of  all  prin- 
ciple, which  regards  man's  solemn  intercourse  between 
earth  and  heaven  any  thing,  or  every  thing,  or  nothing, 
and  rests  in  perfect  indifl*erence  to  religious  truth.    To- 


fU 


be  really  liberal,  is  to  judge  kindly  and  candidly  of  the 
motives  and  sentiments  of  others,  and  never  to  allow 
difference  of  opinion  to  interfere  with  the  charities  of 
social  life ;  but  implies  no  want  of  principle  in  ourselves. 
In  the  examination  of  religion,  it  is  our  duty  to  come 
forward  with  a  candid  and  docile  temper  of  mind ;  but 
having  ascertained  the  truth,  and  arrived  at  conclusions 
which  we  believe  in  conscience  to  be  correct,  it  is  then 
our  duty  to  support  and  avow  them  with  discreet  but 
uncompromising  firmness;  and  while  we  cherish  the 
spirit  of  Christian  charity  towards  those  who  differ  from 
us,  and  are  not  strong  in  the  faith,  we  must  neither  be 
indifferent  to  the  cause  of  truth,  nor  to  the  increase  of 
error,  much  less  fall  into  that  Laodicean  neutrality, 
which  is  the  death  of  every  thing  lioble  and  generous 
in  the  mind.  If,  then,  we  are  convinced  that  the 
Christian  doctrines,  as  we  believe  them,  are  fully  estab- 
lished in  Scripture,  and  that  they  are  taught  by  no 
other  Church  in  equal  purity,  it  becomes  our  duty,  as 
it  is  our  privilege,  to  maintain  them  with  all  our  might. 
In  such  case,  to  treat  them  lightly,  or  attempt  to  ex- 
plain them  as  unessential,  instead  of  being  the  mark 
of  a  great  and  liberal  spirits  is  a  proof  of  a  wavering 
~  mind,  not  duly  impressed  with  the  value  and  importance 
of  truth. 

What  would  this  intrepid  defender  of  sound  principle 
exclaim — Shall  we  trifle  with  the  laws  of  God  ?  Shall 
we  assist  other  denominations  in  promoting  error  ?  Shall 
societies,  established  on  the  principle  of  indifference 
to  religious  truth,  and  proclaiming  their  own  praises 
in  the  public  journals  with  so  much  ostentatious  pomp 
and  parade  as  to  disgust  every  humble  mind,  number  us 
among  their  friends  f    Contrast,  he  might  have  added, 


25 


their  public  meetings,  which  seem  to  be  held  for  no 
other  purpose  than  that  of  bandying  compliments  and 
praises  which  shame  would  prevent  them  from  uttering 
in  a  private  room,  with  the  modest  simplicity  of  societies 
belonging  to  our  Church,  and  which  have  for  ages  been 
productive  of  so  much  good ;  and  then  say  if  you  can 
leave  your  own  institutions  and  conscientiously  join  them. 
Nothing  can  be  more  loathsome  to  sober  Christians  than 
some  of  the  reports  of  the  Bible  and  other  societies 
founded  on  the  same  latitudinarian  principle,  which  are 
annually  inflicted  upon  the  public;  they  set  principle, 
modesty,  and  good  taste  at  defiance. 

Bishop  Hobart  was  accused  by  his  enemies,  as  indeed 
all  the  opposers  of  the  Bible  Society  have  been — for 
many  of  its  supporters  are  not  sparing  in  their  accusa- 
tions— of  wishing  to  deny  the  Bible  to  the  people,  and 
prevent  its  general  dissemination.    But  this  is  false,  and 
his  accusers  knew  it  to  be  so  when  they  declared  it,  both 
in  print  and  conversation.   No  man  was  ever  more  anxious 
than  he  was  that  the  Scriptures  should  be  found  in  every 
family — that  their  sound  should  go  into  all  the  earth, 
and  their  words  unto  the  end  of  the  world;  but  he  de- 
sired this  to  be  done  through  the  domestic  society  of 
the  Church.     Her  members  were  in  the  first  place  to 
bring  the  tribute  and  help  of  their  zeal  and  love,  their 
united,  best,  and  most  strenuous  efforts  for  the  stability 
and  enlargement  of  their  own  communion;  and  in  the 
next  to  promote  the  welfare,  efficacy,  and  advancement, 
as  well  temporal  as  spiritual,  of  all  the  designs  with 
which  it  is  connected.     As  to  other  denominations,  let 
them  have  their  own  institutions,  we  seek  not  to  tie  their 
hands,  or  impugn  their  motives,  or  interfere  with  their 
labours.     But  how  can  an  active  and  zealous  supporter 
of  the  Society  for  Promoting  Christian  Knowledge  be  at 

4 


26 


llio  saii.o  time  an  active  and  zcalouK  supporter  of  the 
Bilile  Society  ? 

Our  distinctive  principles,  and  the  form  of  our  church 
governiTicnt,  preclude  its  members,  in  my  opinion,  from 
joininiT  promiscuously  with  other  denominations  for  reh- 
gioiis  purposes;  although  many  do  so  whose  purity  of 
intention  I  have  no  reason  to  question,  whatever  I  may 
think  of  their   judgment   and   consistency.     With   her 
ministers  this  duty  is  stronger,  or  rather  to  join  such  is 
altogether  incompatible  with  their  sacred  office.     What 
can  be  more  inconsistent  than  to  see  Bishops  belonging 
to  the  Church  of  England  supporting   societies  whose 
objects  arc  not  under  their  influence  ?     Episcopacy  is  a 
spiritual    government   by    spiritual    men,    for    spiritual 
purposes.     One  of  its  great  objects  is  the  union  of  the 
Church,   by   the   prevention   of  heresies   without,   and 
schisms  within;  and  I  have  therefore  been  always  filled 
with  the  deepest  sorrow,  when  I  saw  Bishops  officers  of 
Bible    Societies.     I  deem  such   traitors   to   their  own 
Church,  and  promoters  of  division.   A  Bishop  at  a  Bible 
Society,  is  the  object  of  hostility  and  hatred  to  the  majo- 
rity around  him,  who  think  it  a  matter  of  conscience  to 
thwart  his  views,  unless  he  forgets  his  vows  and  acts  in 
accordance  with  their  levelling  designs.     Bishop  Hobart 
did  not  merely  admit,  but  insisted  on  th'j  importance  of 
disseminating  such  religious  tracts  as  exhibited  views  of 
divine  truth  in  accordance  with  the  sentiments  of  our 
Church,  and  explained  her  institutions;  but  in  regard  to 
Tract  Societies  he  most  judiciously  observed,  "  that  an 
union  here  with  our  Christian  brethren  who  differ  from 
us,  must  inevitably,  to  say  the  least,  endanger  our  reli- 
gious system,  either  by  circulating  sentiments  in  disso- 
nance with  its  distinctive  principles,  or  by  keeping  them 
out  of  view  in   a  general  association  of  commanding 


07 

nt  i 


influence,  lead  to  the  belief  that  they  arc  of  little  im- 
portance."* 

About  the  beginning  of  the  present  centjn'v,  the 
Reverend  Dr.  Bell  began  to  introduce  a  new  system  of 
education,  which  he  brought  from  the  East-Indies,  and 
which  offers  great  facilities  for  the  rapid  actpiisition  of 
elementary  instruction.  The  Doctor's  first  painphlct  on 
the  subject  was  printed  in  1796,  but  several  years  elapsed 
before  it  attracted  public  attention.  It  is  indeed  ques- 
tionable, notwithstanding  its  excellence,  whether  it  would 
have  come  into  general  practice,  had  not  Mr.  Lancaster 
adopted  it  with  some  variations,  and  shown  to  the  citizens 
of  London  the  great  ease  and  certainty  with  which  ha 
principles  might  be  applied  to  the  education  of  a  numer- 
ous population.  Unfortunately  for  mankind,  this  gentle- 
man differed  from  Dr.  Bell,  in  proceeding  on  the  maxim 
of  the  Bible  and  Missionary  Societies — a  total  indiffer- 
ence to  religion.  This  alteration  was  immediately  caught 
at  by  the  falsely-called  liberal,  and  having  been  much 
followed,  it  has  engendered  a  spirit  of  indifference  to 
Christianity,  which  these  societies  have  cherished  and 
extended  so  as  to  have  produced  a  neglect  of  religion 
among  the  people  altogether  appalling.  Bishop  llobart, 
a  careful  observer  of  the  times,  set  his  face  against  this 
baleful  system  of  separating  rehgion  from  education,  as 
he  had  against  promiscuous  societies  for  religious  pur- 
poses. His  principle  was,  that  to  instill  religious  truths 
into  the  minds  of  childien  at  the  earliest  period  of  life, 


*  The  wisdom  of  the  Bishop's  views  on  the  subject  of  difterent  denoitiina- 
tions  uniting  for  rehgious  purposes  is  now  generally  admitted.  The  discus- 
sions which  have  arisen  in  the  Bible  Society  respecting  the  Apocrypha,  the 
extraordinary  preface  to  one  of  their  foreign  editions  of  the  Bible,  and  the 
agents  employed  in  distributing  the  Scriptures,  have  led  to  much  acrimony 
and  dissension,  and  taught  many  the  propriety  of  withdrawing  fioni  general 
ussociatious,  and  confining  themselves  to  their  own  comnmuion. 


was  to  secure  thcin  against  evil.  In  as  far  as  the  me- 
chanical improvements  were  concerned,  by  which  they 
might  bo  more  quickly  and  in  greater  numbers  educated, 
no  man  was  more  eager  to  promote  their  adoption;  but 
religion  must  ever  be  the  basis  of  education.  In  their 
separation  he  foresaw  the  germ  of  every  evil ;  and  the 
present  times  prove  his  wisdom  and  sagacity.  What  do 
we  see  in  Europe,  as  the  coi.seciuence  of  knowledge 
without  religion?  The  perversion  of  public  principle, 
the  daily  weakening  of  the  bonds  of  union  between  the 
humble  ranks  of  society  and  their  natural  guardians  and 
protectors,  growing  insubordination,  disregard  to  the 
laws,  increase  of  crime,  the  denunciation  of  good  men, 
mockery  of  religion,  impatience  of  just  control  and  salu- 
tary restraint,  contempt  of  sound  learning  and  experi- 
ence, and  the  interruption  of  honest  industry.  The 
Bishop,  considering  such  evils  to  be  the  certain  conse- 
quences of  separating  religion  from  education,  boldly 
denounced  every  such  attempt;  he  declared  it  to  be 
contrary  to  the  Christian  profession,  and  that  to  patronize 
any  such  plan  must  prove  destructive  of  that  unity  of  spirit 
and  bond  of  peace  which  were  designed  to  be  the  dis- 
tinguishing characteristics  of  Christ's  Church  upon  earth, 
however  liberal  it  might  be  called,  or  popular  it  might 
become.  The  Protestant  reformers  were  better  ac- 
quainted with  human  nature  and  the  true  sources  of 
human  happiness,  and  therefore  raised  the  standard  of 
education  on  the  basis  of  Christianity.  They  declared, 
that  to  reject  that  basis,  was  to  reject  God;  for  what  can 
be  more  wicked,  than  for  men  calling  themselves  Chris- 
tians, to  adopt  a  system  which  produces  indifference  to  the 
Gospel,  and  the  rejection  of  the  doctrines  which  constitute 
its  essence  and  foundation  f  If  good  principles  are  not 
inculcated,  bad  ones  will  gain  admission  into  the  minds 


29 


ul'the  young;  and  how  can  wc  expect  any  blessing  upon 
ourselves  or  children,  if  we  do  not  bring  thcni  acquainted 
with  their  Saviour  and  Creator  ? 

As  usual,  those  who  thought  Mr.  Lancaster  deficient 
in  the  most  material  part  of  education,  were  stigmatized 
as  the  enemies  of  liberal  sentiment;  but  the  friends  of 
true  religion  are  not  to  be  deterred  from  doing  their  duty 
by  obloquy  and  scorn.  It  is  indeed  to  be  deplored,  that 
a  plan  of  instruction  so  generally  adopted  in  Europe  and 
America,  should  not  have  ceded  to  Christianity  the  ground 
which  it  ought  to  occupy;  for  it  is  impossible  for  the 
truly  religious  to  sanction  any  system  of  instruction 
which  scarcely  admits  the  name  of  Christ,  or  such  meagre 
extracts  from  the  Bible  as  the  children  are  not  capable 
of  understanding.  Bring  up  the  child  in  the  way  he 
should  go,  and  when  he  is  old  he  will  not  depart  from 
it.  Experience  proves,  that  to  instruct  children  in  the 
principles  of  the  true  faith  by  means  of  catechisms,  easy 
at  first,  and  as  they  grow  up,  more  comprehensive  and 
satisfactory,  is  certain  to  be  successful.  This  has  been 
the  practice  of  the  purest  portions  of  the  Christian 
Church  in  all  ages ;  and  the  same  method,  from  its  ap- 
proved excellence,  is  now  made  use  of  to  convey  infor- 
mation on  almost  all  the  various  branches  of  human 
knowledge.  Children  are  easily  made  to  comprehend 
the  leading  truths  of  revelation.  That  there  are  secret 
things  that  belong  unto  the  Lord  our  God,  in  religion  as 
well  as  in  nature,  we  readily  allow ;  but  in  this  point  of 
view  all  are  children,  and  although  we  cannot  fathom, 
we  feel  their  effects.  Is  there  any  great  difficulty  in 
making  children  understand  the  facts  related  in  the 
Gospels,  and  upon  which  the  doctrines  of  our  religion 
stand  f  Is  it  difficult  for  them  to  comprehend  the  prac- 
tical precepts  f     Those  who  say  that  it  is  impossible  for 


'60 


\licni  to  iindcistdml  such  tilings,  mo  cither  very  ignoram 
of  the  capjicity  of  children,  or  dostitutu  of  the  talent  of 
f'omnninicating  knowleH«^e.  At  the  same  time,  it  is 
neither  wise  nor  nscfal  to  perplex  them  with  idle  or 
«suhtle  inquiries;  the  great  anxiety  should  he,  to  make 
them  emhody  in  their  lives,  as  far  as  possible,  the  in- 
struction which  they  receive.  A  second  step  in  the  pro- 
gress of  dividing  education  from  religion,  has  been  made 
in  the  establishment  of  mechanic  institutions,  in  which 
it  is  declared,  that  the  demonstrative  or  experimental 
sciences  only  should  be  admitted.  These  may  indeed 
strengthen  the  mind,  and  may  be  considered  pillars  in 
the  temple  of  knowledge,  but  we  must  look  elsewhere 
for  elevation  of  soul,  for  taste,  delicacy,  pure  virtue,  and 
religion.  It  must  be  allowed,  that  the  sight  of  several 
Imndred  artificers  collecting,  after  their  daily  labours  arc 
over,  to  listen  to  the  voice  of  science,  is  sufficiently  im- 
posing, and  that  it  marks  a  momentous  aera  in  the  history 
of  the  British  and  American  population ;  but  we  have 
iflready  to  record,  that  though  very  few  years  have 
elapsed  since  their  commencement,  many  of  these  insti- 
tutions have  degenerated  into  political  clubs  and  hot-beds 
^f  infidelity.  It  is  not  that  such  associations  might  not 
be  made  useful  under  judicious  regulations,  and  produce 
excellent  moral  habits  and  a  true  regard  for  religion, 
while  they  become  profitable  resources  for  leisure,  and 
for  extending  a  knowledge  of  the  sciences;  but  while 
they  continue  to  be  occupied  almost  exclusively  with 
physical  questions,  and  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  high 
principles  of  religion,  there  is  nothing  to  unite  the  moral 
sympathies  of  their  supporters,  but  much  to  produce 
discordant  feelings.  A  short  time  ago,  the  gates  of 
knowledge  were  scarcely  open  to  any  but  the  wealthy 
and  high-born ;  now  they  are  open  to  all ;  and  so  far  the 


n 


<^anj(c  is  worthy  of  nil  praise.     By  means  of  numerous 
popular  institutions,  thousands,  who  were  left,  in  former 
times,  in  poverty  and  ignorance,  are  raised  to  a  high 
state  of  intellectual  being.     It  is  therefore  much  to  be 
lamented  that  this  great  moral  experiment,  which  has 
already  produced  astonishing  resuhs,  should  limit  itself 
to  man  as  a  physical  being  confined  to  this  world,  and 
thus  neglect  the  more  valuablfr  part  of  his  nature;  and 
that,  while  the  principles  of  mechanical  science  are  be- 
coming familiar  to  the  multitude,  the  diffusion  of  religious 
knowledge  among  the   same  class  is  by  no  means  so 
general.     Nothing  can  be  more  beautiful  than  science 
and  religion  combined;  they  are,  indeed,  intimately  en- 
twined.   God  is  to  be  worshipped  in  the  works  of  nature, 
as  well  as  in  the  works  of  grace :  united,  they  raise  man 
to  the  highest  standard  of  excellence  which  it  is  possible 
for  him  to  attain  in  this  lower  world ;  but,  if  they  are  to 
be  separated,  leave  us  religion  to  purify  our  hearts,  and 
not  science,  which,  without  its  companion,  only  enlarges 
our  power  of  doing  evil. 

As  the  climax  of  this  pernicious  system,  the  London 
University  was  set  up,  and  a  similar  institution  projected 
at  New- York.  The  world  had  never  seen  an  institu- 
tion, in  the  form  of  an  university,  pretending  to  give  an 
encyclopaedia  of  knowledge  without  any  reference  to 
theology ;  such  a  thing  had  never  been  imagined  among 
Meathens  or  Mahometans,  much  less  was  it  to  be  expected 
among  professing  Christians.  If  Christian  theology  bo 
considered  as  a  science  which  has  materially  influenced 
the  literature,  civilization,  and  destinies  of  nations,  how 
could  it  with  propriety  be  excluded  from  an  establish- 
ment which  professed  to  teach  all  the  sciences  f  If  it  bo 
necessary  to  acquire  a  knowledge  of  its  elements,  in 
order  to  comprehend  upon  what  grounds,  and  through 


32 


what  concurrin/D^  circiimstHnccfl,  so  large  a  portion  of  the 
civilized  world  lins  hecoine  Christianized,  nothing  conld 
be  more  illiberal  than  its  proscription ;  and  if  it  be  con- 
sidered the  rule  of  moral  conduct  to  millions  around  us, 
whether  right  or  wrong,  can  that  system  of  instruction 
be  complete,  in  which  no  mention  is  made  of  its  principles 
and  evidences  ?  Even  as  a  branch  of  history,  entwining 
itself  in  all  the  transactions  of  the  civilized  world  for  the 
last  nineteen  centuries,  a  knowledge  of  Christianity  be- 
comes indispensable  in  any  general  plan  of  education. 

The  first  best  purpose  of  education,  and  which  gives 
holiness  and  glory  to  every  scheme  for  its  improvement, 
is  to  connect  thought  and  principle  by  the  fullest  demon- 
stration of  truth.  This  brings  forth  all  that  is  religious 
in  man;  it  makes  him  the  true  worshipper  of  God  and 
the  self-denying  friend  of  his  species.  But  are  such 
sentiments  and  feelings  nourished  by  physical  science  ? 
Certainly  not.  We  must  unlock  the  treasures  of  moral 
science  to  find  a  mould  for  the  noblest  form  of  mind; 
and  if  the  philosophy  of  the  heart  and  spirit  form  an 
indispensable  part  of  instruction,  how  is  religion  to  be 
excluded  ?  Religious  principle  is  inherent  in  every  man, 
nor  can  his  mind  be  analyzed  with  correctness  without 
introducing  religion;  and  why  not  then  introduce  it  in  a 
proper  manner;  and  not  by  iinperfect,  unconnected,  and 
often  sarcastic  hints,  unsetiie  the  youthful  mind  on  this, 
the  most  precious  of  all  subjects.  Does  not  every  person 
feel  that  physical  pleasures  and  mental  amusements, 
when  confined  to  this  earthly  sphere,  are  almost  on  a 
par;  and  yet,  if,  in  the  very  midst  of  such  pleasures  and 
amusements,  there  are  occasional  intervals  when  the 
soul  rejects,  and  even  loaths  them,  is  not  this  a  proof 
that  it  has  other  wants  f  dees  not  this  dissatisfaction 
with  earthly  things,  this  longing  after  a  more  elevated 


33 

splicrc,  open  the  iniiul  to  tlie  i^lorioiis  truths  of  revela- 
tion? Is  it  possible  timt  any  reflecting  bcin^  enn  ho 
content  with  a  life  confined  to  this  world — the  weakness 
and  inconveniences  of  infancy ;  the  passions,  the  errors, 
the  faults  of  youth ;  the  ambitious  miscalculations  and 
indiflerence  of  nuinhood;  the  infirmities  and  degradation 
of  childish  old  ago  f  In  truth,  it  is  the  relij^^ious  principle 
inherent  in  every  breast  that  ennobles  the  character,  and 
<^ivcs  the  true  charm  to  scientific  knowledge.  To  what 
do  the  investigations  of  the  works  of  nature  tend,  but  to 
expand  our  conceptions  of  the  power,  wisdom,  benevo- 
lence, and  superintending  providence  of  God  ?  What 
are  all  the  objects  of  knowledge  but  dark  and  comfort- 
less, unless  animated  by  vivid  conceptions  of  him  who 
made  all  things  f  True  knowledge  may  be  defined,  a 
seeking  after  God ;  and  while  we  are  seeking  him  in  his 
external  works,  shall  we  neglect  his  spiritual  manifesta- 
tions f  Exterior  nature  bears,  indeed,  the  stump  of  infi- 
nite perfection,  but  only  as  a  sensible  medium  to  expand 
and  exalt  our  conc<<!pilons  of  him  whose  invisible  glories 
they  represent ;  and  it  is  not  nntil  they  are  purified  by 
the  light  of  divine  revelation,  that  they  open  themselves 
to  a  future  world,  where  our  vision  will  be  infinitely 
enlarged,  the  plans  and  operations  of  God  more  clearly 
unfolded,  and  where  we  shall  be  able  to  join  the  immortal 
hymn  of  the  Church  triumphant — "Great  and  marvellous 
are  thy  works,  Lord  God  Almighty;  just  and  true  arc 
thy  ways,  thou  King  of  saints." 

Bishop  Ilobart's  voice  was  raised  against  this  projected 
university ;  he  saw  the  vast  evils  which  such  an  institu- 
tion was  likely  to  produce,  and  he  had  the  pleasure  of 
knowing  that  the  best  and  wisest  men,  both  in  England 
and  America,  were  with  him.  Was  then  this  excellent 
prelate  an  enemy  to  the  dissemination  of  knowledge  f 

5 


34 


Far  otiierwisi'.     No  man  n  ore  readily  admitted  that 
knowledge,   in  its  original  tendency,  adds  dignity  and 
perfection  to  the  human  character;  and  that,  in  this 
point  of  view,  it  must  ever  be  dear  to  Protestants,  be- 
cause from  its  diffusi   ,i  they  owe  their  emancipation 
from  the  Church  of  Rome,  and  the  purity  of  their  reli- 
gious belief.     It  was  not  therefore  his  wish  to  limit,  for 
a  single  moment,    the  not)le  gratification  of  scientific 
research,  or  to  check,  in  any  instance,  legitimate  inquiry; 
but  he  was  anxious  that  ali  acquisitions  should  be  made 
subservient  to  the  one  ihing  needful.    United  to  religion, 
he  saw  no  reason  to  confine  information;  and  as  the 
tendency  of  the  public  mind  is  evidently  to  advance  in 
knowledge,  he  considered  it  the  duty  of  the  ministers  of 
the  Gospel  to  prepare  themselves  with  such  knowledge, 
scientific  and  moral,  as  well  as  religious,  as  should  keep 
them  in  the  van ;  so  that  they  might  be  enabled  to  deliver 
their  instructions  with  effect,  and  instead  of  discouraging, 
from  an  unworthy  timidity,  the  advance  of  science,  or 
deprecating  its  real  advantages,  it  became  them  to  point 
out  its  usefulness  when  subservient  to  spiritual  things. 
Next,  therefore,  to  religious  truth,  he  considered  moral 
and  physical  knowledge  the  mcst  precious  gift  of  Divine 
Providence,  and  urged  their  acquisition  by  precept  and 
example.     It  is  the  dutj^  of  the  clergy,  he  would  say,  to 
go  before  the  general  average  in  learning,   and  to  be 
able  to  address  themselves  to  the  understandings  r,s  well 
as  the  hearts  of  an  enlightened  people.    Moses  was  wise 
in  all  the  knowledge  of  Egypt,  and  St.  Paul  was  tho- 
roughly instructed  in  the  literature  of  his  age,  nor  did 
he  disdain  to  make  use  of  it  in  the  propagation  of  the 
Gospel.     But  Bishop  Hobart  desired  what  every  true 
friend  of  man  must  desire,  that  our  progress  in  science 
and  our  knowledge  in  religion  should  go  hand  in  hand. 


35 

and  that  they  should  be  most  carefully  united  in  all  insti- 
tutions for  the  instruction  of  youth. 

In  regard  to  missionary  exertions,  the  same  wise  prin- 
ciples guided  his  proceedings.  While  anxious  to  spread 
the  knowledge  ox'  the  Gospel  through  the  whole  world, 
he  felt  it  to  be  more  especially  his  duty  to  promote 
missions  of  a  domestic  character.  The  greater  portion 
o^  Ins  diocese,  when  he  became  its  liishop,  might  be 
called  a  spiritual  desert ;  on  itinerant  preachers  or  mis- 
sionaries he  thereftie  depended  for  collecting  the  scat- 
tered sheep,  and  he  found  that  there  was  too  much  to  be 
done  at  home  to  allow  for  a  long  time  the  means  of 
sending  the  Gospel  to  distant  climes.  His  first  duty  was 
to  cultivate  and  water  his  own  spiritual  garden,  by  car- 
rying the  tidings  of  srlvation  to  the  new  settlements, 
where  individuals  and  families  had  gone  from  the  regiuar 
ministration  of  the  word  and  sacraments,  and  where 
thousands  were  scattered  as  ignorant  of  Christianity  as 
the  pagan  nations.  Those  wastes,  he  said,  if  not  culti- 
vated by  the  neighbouring  Church,  would  for  ever  be 
neglected.  The  Church  o!i  Alexandria  was  not  expected 
to  send  missionaries  to  convert  the  people  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  Carthage,  noi  the  Church  of  Carthage  to 
the  neighbourhood  of  Alexandria ;  but  each  was  bound, 
as  from  a  centre,  to  extend  its  spiritual  labours  as  far  as 
possible  around  it.  He  considered  the  siti'^tion  of  the 
United  States  to  be  very  different  from  that  of  England 
and  other  European  nations.  The  latter,  of  known  and 
limited  extent,  have  been  long  blessed  with  ecclesiastical 
establishments,  and  are  divided  into  small  districts  or 
parishes,  in  each  of  which  a  clergyman  is  placed  to 
superintend  the  religious  instruction  of  the  people ;  and 
being  thus  well  provided  at  home,  they  can  look  abroad 
with  propriety  and  effect.     But  in  the  former,  matter?; 


36 


are  very  difTerent;  there  is  no  ecclesiastical  establish- 
ment, the  limits  of  civilization  are  continually  extending, 
and  the  utmost  exertions  of  the  different  denominations 
are  not  sufficient  to  carry  spiritual  food  to  the  numerous 
destitute  settlements  which  are  daily  growing  up  in  all 
directions.  Remote  climes  will  be  attended  to,  he  fre- 
quently said,  by  our  Protestant  brethren  in  Europe; 
but  we  shall  have  more  to  do,  for  ages  to  come,  than  we 
are  able  to  perform.  Our  own  population,  spreading 
through  this  vast  continent,  presents  fields  of  spiritVtul 
destitution  which  powerfully  appeal  to  our  hearts  and 
understandings.  Let  us  first  obey  the  Apostle,  in  pro- 
viding for  the  household  of  faith :  that  accomplished,  we 
may  then  contribute  towards  the  more  general  extension 
of  Gospel  truth.  Yet  on  this  subject  he  was  willing  to 
meet  his  brethren  in  the  candid  spirit  of  concession,  for 
there  was  no  principle  to  give  up,  and  no  pernicious 
system  to  combat;  and  therefore  he  became  a  zealous 
supporter  of  the  Domestic  and  Foreign  Missionary 
Society,  the  constitution  of  which  admits  the  contribu- 
tions or  efforts  of  its  members  to  be  given  to  either,  or 
to  both.  For  although  the  Bishop  considered  the  wants 
of  the  Church,  in  almost  every  district  of  the  Union, 
great  and  urgent,  yet  he  was  too  well  acquainted  with 
human  nature  not  to  know  that  the  hearts  of  many  would 
be  opened,  and  their  exertions  increased,  at  the  prospect 
of  sending  the  Gospel  to  distant  lands.  He  knew  that 
no  reasoning  could  be  more  fallacious  than  to  infer  that 
every  thing  paid  to  the  one  was  an  abstraction  from  the 
other ;  for  those  who,  after  due  consideration,  were  con- 
vinced that  the  home  mission  was  more  in  the  way  of 
their  duty,  might  still  feel  that  this  formed  no  sufficient 
excuse  for  doing  nothing  for  foreign  missions.  Others 
again,  carried  away  by  the  splendid  thought  of  conveying 


37 


the  Gospel  to  the  four  corners  of  the  earth,  enlarged 
their  contributions  to  both:  it  was  a  holy  flame,  which 
he  sought  in  gentleness  to  direct,  and  was  too  noble  to 
repress,  or  to  treat  with  any  thing  but  respect,  even  in 
its  aberrations :  for  as  we  are  bound  to  promote  the  cause 
of  religion  beyond  the  sphere  in  which  we  move,  either 
as  individuals,  families,  or  congregations ;  so  the  Church 
to  which  we  belong  may  with  propriety  look  to  other 
lands  and  nations,  when  able  to  help  them.    But  though 
kind  and  considerate  in  this  matter  towards  those  who 
differed  from  hiro,  he  was  firm  in  opposing  all  contribu- 
tions from  his  people,  except  for  the  extension  of  Chris- 
tianity as  professed  by  our  own  Church ;  nor  would  he 
join  with  other  denominations  in  propagating  the  Gospel, 
either  at  home  or  abroad.     He  was  truly  solicitous  to 
enlarge  the  boundaries  of  our  Lord's  vineyard,  and  with- 
out respect  of  persons  would  lead  to  the  marriage  feast 
as  many  as  would  come  in,  but  they  must  come  by  the 
door.     It  .^  not  given  to  us  to  commute  faith  for  works, 
or  works  for  faitli.    We  cannot  allow  that  he  who  denies 
the  divinity  of  Christ,  and  he  who  acknowledges  him  to 
be  his  Lord  and  his  God,  stand  upon  the  same,  or  equal 
ground.   We  cannot,  instead  of  one  body,  one  Spirit,  one 
hope,  one  Lord,   one  faith,  one  baptism,  acknowledge 
many  bodies,  many  discordant   spirits,   many  different 
objects  of  worship,  many  conflicting  articles  of  faith, 
many  baptisms,  or  modes  of  admission  into  the  Christian 
covenant ;  foi  this  would  be  to  annul  the  Christian  charter. 
As  well  might  we  affirm  that  there  are  gods  many  and 
lords  many,  of  opposite  wills  and  purposes,  as  that  "  one 
God  and  Father  of  all"  should  be  the  Author  of  such  con- 
fusion.   All  such  unfeallowed  junctions,  therefore,  as  tend 
to  neutralize  sound  principle  and  to  destroy  the  Christian 
character,  ought  to  be  discountenanced  and  condemnecj. 


38 


Tiiu  best  Lonimciitary  on  the  Bishop's  opinions  and 
principles  was  found  in  the  success  with  which  they  were 
attended  in  conveying  the  bread  of  life  through  his  vast 
diocese,  in  which  he  wus  continually  employed  in  forming 
new  congregations,  and  planning  missionary  expeditions 
through  the  new  states  which  were  daily  added  to  the 
Union :  these  fields  of  Christian  labour  were  ever  on  his 
lips — the  vast  regions  watered  by  the  Missouri,  Missis- 
sippi, St.  Lawrence,  and  the  great  lakes,  already  teeming 
with  an  active  population,  without  any  means  of  instruc- 
tion in  Gospel  truth,  or  in  the  practice  of  its  duties ;  the 
still  vaster  tracts  even  beyond  these,  which  are  settling 
with  a  rapidity  r  v^mpled  in  the  history  of  the  world; 
to  these  wc  must  i:^  the  original  inhabitants,  who  have 
the  strongest  claims  on  the  justice  and  sympathy  of  the 
sincere  believer,  and  to  whom  the  blessings  of  Christianity 
and  civilization  ought  to  be  extended;  it  is  a  debt  of 
conscience,  which  cannot  be  discharged  but  by  the  most 
persevering  and  strenuous  exertions.  . 

The  strength  of  his  body  was  not  equal  to  the  energies 
of  his  mind,  and  began  to  give  way  under  his  various, 
extensive,  and  incessant  labours.  A  sea  voyage  was 
therefore  deemed  necessary;  and  he  sailed  from  New- 
York,  in  September,  1823,  accompanied  by  the  most 
affectionate  regrets  and  fervent  prayers  of  his  people  for 
his  happy  return  with  a  renovated  constitution.  During 
his  absence,  which  continued  about  two  years,  he  visited 
France,  Switzerland,  and  Italy;  but  his  principal  stay 
was  in  Great-Britain  and  Ireland,  the  greater  part  of 
which  interesting  countries  he  actually  traversed.  The 
kind  reception  he  met  with  in  London,  and  in  all  parts 
of  the  three  kingdoms,  was  highly  gratifying.  He  had 
brought  himself  into  more  general  notice  than  the  visit 
of  a  mere  individual,  however  respectable,  by  the  publi- 


cuLion  of  two  volumes  of  sermons  on  the  most  importani 
doctrines  of  revelation.     Jealous  of  the  honour  of  tin; 
Protestant  Episcopal  Church  of  the  United  States,  and 
hearing  it  accused  of  having  departed  from  the  faith, 
and  that  he  was  ranked  by  name  among  those  who  were 
thus  represented  as  neglecting  the  great  essentials  of 
religion,  and  insisting  chiefly  on  its  mere  externals,  he 
thought  that  the  best  refutation  of  such  a  charge,  both 
as  respected  himself  and  his  brethren,  would  be  to  place 
before  the  British  public,  a  series  of  such  discourses  as 
he  had  been  in  the  habit  of  delivering,  in  the  ordinary 
course  of  his  ministry,  to  his  own  congregation.     "  He 
felt  it  his  duty,*'  he  says,  in  his  short  and  animated 
preface,  *'  being  thus  publicly  and  particularly  implicated, 
to  vindicate  himself  from  one  of  the  most  serious  impu- 
tations which  can  be  urged  against  a  Christian  minister. 
And  to  this  course  he  was  also  prompted  by  an  earnest 
desire,  that,  as  a  Bishop  of  the  American  Episcopal 
Church,  he  should  not  appear  to  have  departed  from 
the  doctrines  of  the  venerable  Church  of  England,  to 
which  that  Church  is  indebted,  under  God,  for  her  first 
foundation,  and  for  a  long  continuance  of  nursing  care 
and  protection."    Many  circumstances  combined  to  ren- 
der this  work  deeply  interesting  to  the  friends  of  the 
Church  of  England.     It  proved   that   their  American 
brethren  maintained   the   same  doctrines,   and  in  the 
same  purity  with  themselves.     Nor  was  it  a  small  con- 
solation to  find  them  so  ably  and  triumphantly  vindicated 
by  a  Prelate  who  lived  in  a  distant  country,  where  no 
temptations  of  an  interested  nature  existed,  and  who 
could  be  only  influenced  by  a  sincere  conviction  of  their 
truth.     They  rejoiced  to  behold  their  apostolic  Church, 
in  its  forms,  language,  liturgy,  articles,  and  homilief^s 
taking  c'eep  root  in  the  vast  continent  of  America,  where 


40 


hundreds  of  millions  of  human  beings  might  in  time 
exist,  and  extending  its  prolific  branches  on  every  side. 
In  the  Bishop's  sermons  they  find  the  being  of  God  the 
Creator,  Jesus  Christ  the  Propitiation,  the  Holy  Spirit 
the  Sanctifier,  the  guilt  of  the  sinner,  the  need  of  repent- 
ance, the  nature  of  holiness,  the  comforts  of  religion,  the 
hopes  of  the  righteous,  the  glories  of  the  redeemed,  and 
the  eternity  of  blessedness,  unfolded  with  a  master  hand. 
ToJ*^  On  the  first  of  September/he  embarked,  at  Liverpool,  for 
the  United  States,  and  landed  at  New- York,  with  reno- 
vated health  and  spirits,  on  the  twelfth  of  October,  where 
he  was  received  with  affectionate  enthusiasm  by  his  own 
people,  and  the  kind  greetings  of  all  denominations. 
Soon  after  his  arrival,  he  gave  free  vent  to  his  feelings 
of  love  and  affection  for  his  friends,  his  parishioners,  and 
his  native  land,  in  a  discourse  from  the  pulpit,  which 
being  afterwards  published,  attracted  no  small  degree  of 
notice  in  England  as  well  as  in  the  United  States.  So 
far  as  it  can  be  deemed  the  outpouring  of  a  warm  and 
affectionate  heart  glowing  with  love  and  esteem  for  his 
native  country  and  the  friends  who  had  manifested  so 
great  kindness  to  him,  it  is  worthy  of  all  praise ;  nor  can 
we  withhold  our  approbation,  in  so  far  as  it  was  intended 
to  proclaim  his  unaltered  attachment  to  his  own  Church 
and  institutions,  and  to  rouse  and  give  force  to  the  same 
feeling  among  her  members ;  neither  are  we  disposed  to 
blame  the  great  anxiety  manifested  throughout  the  whole 
discourse  to  give  popularity  to  his  Church,  which  ho 
thought  had  been  checked  by  the  Episcopal  character 
connecting  it,  in  appearance,  more  with  the  civil  govern- 
ment of  England  than  that  of  the  United  States.  To  be 
attached  to  our  own  country,  which  contains  those  we 
hold  most  dear,  our  purest  and  most  early  associations, 
and  to  impart  this  lovely  and  affectionate  preference  to 


41 

those  around  us,  when  speaking  of  other  countries  which 
we  may  have  visited,  is  highly  commendable.  I  honour 
most  cordially  that  devotedness  to  his  own  native  land 
which  makes  a  man  cherish  and  love  it  above  all  other 
lands.  But  the  Bishop,  as  his  best  friends  confessed, 
went  too  far.  Not  satisfied  with  a  general  expression  of 
his  preference,  he  entered  into  detail ;  and  here  he  failed. 
His  opportunities  of  observation  in  England,  though  far 
better  than  those  of  most  other  travellers,  owing  to  the 
marked  attention  paid  him,  yet  were  not  sufficient  to 
enable  him,  acute  as  he  was,  to  get  to  the  bottom  of  all 
points  upon  which  he  speaks  and  decides  with  the  utmost 
confidence ;  and  he  seemed  to  have  forgotten,  that,  not- 
withstanding the  zeal  and  unusual  measure  of  talent  for 
which  he  was  disatinguished,  hi»  Church  could  not  have 
flourished  and  increased  as  it  has  done,  but  through  the 
aid  derived  from  the  support  given  to  it  by  our  monarchs, 
while  it  was  part  of  the  establishment  of  the  empire. 

I  dined  alone  with  Bishop  Hobart,  on  my  way  to 
England,  in  March,  1826,  and  the  conversation  turned 
on  the  sermon,  which  had  not  been  long  published.  I 
expressed  my  regret  that  it  had  ever  seen  the  light,  for 
it  was  the  only  one  of  all  his  works  I  could  not  approve 
of:  that,  believing  it  calculated  to  do  no  little  mischief 
to  the  Church  of  England,  it  was  my  intention  to  review 
it,  on  my  arrival  in  London,  with  all  friendliness,  but 
with  perfect  freedom.  The  conversation  was  long  and 
animated;  we  examined  the  sermon  minutely,  and  dis- 
cussed, without  reserve,  those  parts  in  which  we  differed. 
With  his  usual  candour  he  confessed  that,  in  some  mat- 
ters, his  opinion  was  rather  hasty,  and  in  a  playful  manner 
requested  me  to  give  him  a  specimen  of  my  proposed 
critique.  To  this  I  readily  agreed,  proposing  to  confine 
myself  to  his  sweeping  denunciation  against  ecclesiastical 

6 


establishments.  I  shall  commence,  I  said,  ivtth  oxpreiis- 
ing  my  deep  sorrow  that  the  enemies  of  such  excellent 
institutions  would  have  the  gratification  of  finding  a 
person  of  his  great  talents  and  authority  among  their 
mimbcr:  that  I  could  easily  perceive  why  opposite  and 
discordant  sects,  who  agree  in  nothing  else,  unite  against 
ecclesiastical  establishments;  nor  was  I  surprised  that 
infidels  should  declare  against  them,  as  the  strong  hold 
of  that  Christianity  which  they  hate;  or  Unitarians,  who 
detest  them  for  the  purity  of  their  creeds ;  or  the  specu- 
latist,  who  is  rcudy  to  sacrifice  the  best  interests  of  his 
country  for  the  sake  of  his  favourite  theory;  or  the 
reformer,  who  sees  abuse  in  every  thing,  and  is  only  at 
ease  amidst  changes  and  revolution;  but  for  a  sincere 
and  learned  Christian  in  believe  that  genuine  religion 
will  be  most  effectually  extended  by  destroying  the  re- 
servoir from  whence  its  streams  have  issued,  and  by 
laying  the  axe  to  the  root  of  the  tree  which  has  hitherto 
produced  the  fruits  of  righteousness,  appeared  to  mc 
truly  astonishing.  I  was,  indeed,  prepared  to  admit  that 
it  was  extremely  difficult  for  a  person,  born  and  brought 
up  in  this  country,  (the  United  States,)  to  appreciate  the 
vast  benefits  of  an  established  Church,  with  its  parochial 
ministers  regularly  distributed  through  the  whole  country 
in  settled  residences,  and  with  a  given  space  in  which  to 
labour  for  the  temporal  and  eternal  happiness  of  the 
population;  he  must  divest  himself  of  many  prejudices 
and  unfortunate  associations  before  he  could  approach 
the  subject  with  any  hope  of  giving  it  impartial  considera- 
tion; the  defects,  highly  coloured  and  exaggerated,  of 
such  institutions  are  ever  present  to  his  mind,  without 
being  aware  that  they  are  not  inherent,  but  of  easy 
remedy,  while  the  advantages  seem  obscure,  or  are 
totally  unknown*   In  states  possessed  of  an  ecclesiastical 


43 


1 


establishment,  the  country  is  divided  into  small  portions, 
and  a  religious  teacher  placed  in  each,  by  which  means 
all  the  people  have  access  to  religious  instruction.  A 
reverence  is  thus  kept  up  in  their  minds  for  what  is  pure 
and  holy ;  and  their  number  being  small,  and  living  as 
it  were  together,  the  clergyman  soon  becomes  acquainted 
with  every  individual,  both  old  and  young,  and  is  able  to 
visit  them  occasionally  at  their  own  houses ;  he  becomes 
their  friend  and  adviser,  the  composer  of  differences,  the 
promoter  of  peace  and  contentment,  the  catechiser  of 
children,  the  encourager  of  industry,  sobriety,  and  all 
the  virlueu  that  make  man  prosperous  and  happy  here 
and  hereafter. 

As  the  comparison  is  between  England  and  the  United 
States,  I  shall  confine  myself  to  these  two  countries ;  but 
in  showing  the  necessity  of  the  ecclesiastical  establish- 
ment of  England  for  the  religious  instruction  of  the 
nation,  I  seek  not  to  vindicate  abuses,  for  such  may  be 
removed,  and  leave  the  establishment  more  efficient  than 
ever.  The  Church  of  England  is  commensurate  with 
the  natural  boundaries  of  the  country,  which  consists  of 
about  55,000  square  miles,  containing  fourteen  millions 
of  inhabitants,  and  divided  into  about  11,000  parishes. 
The  number  of  clergymen  actually  employed  in  parochial 
duties  are  not  fewer  than  16,000.  yThe  parishes  may  be 
reckoned  to  contain  five  square  miles  each,  a  space  not 
by  any  means  too  great  for  all  the  rcsidenters  to  attend 
regularly  the  service  of  the  Church;  and  the  average 
population  not  quite  900  souls,  or  about  200  families  for 
each  clergyman — a  number  not  greater  than,  if  vigilant, 
he  is  able  to  instruct.  Even  this  average  number  is 
lessened,  in  towns,  by  those  who  dissent  from  the  estab- 
lished form  of  worship;  but  this  is  the  general  state  of 
the  rural  parishes,  for  the  Dissenters  hardly  ever  go  to 


11 


44 

the  distant  and  obscure  corners  of  any  country,  such  they 
leave  to  the  establishment,  while  they  plant'their  stand- 
ards amidst  towns  and  populous  villages,  where,  in  an 
far  as  religious  instruction  is  concerned,  they  are  very 
little  wa.ited.  Now  it  is  evident  that  the  moral  effect 
of  such  a  body  of  men  daily  mixing  with  their  people 
must  be  very  great,  more  especially  as  they  are  quite 
independent  of  them  for  subsistence.  Let  us  now  loolf 
at  the  Episcopal  Church  of  the  United  States,  and  see 
what  moral  effect  it  can  have  on  the  population,  as  a 
source  of  Christian  instruction ;  for  this,  after  all,  is  the 
true  foundation  upon  which  to  institute  a  comparison 
between  it  and  the  Church  of  England;  and  if  in  this  it 
greatly  fail,  the  comparison  falls  to  the  ground.  Now  I 
shall  give  you  every  advantage  in  this  matter,  and  in- 
stead  of  taking  the  United  States  generally,  by  which 
my  argument  in  favour  of  England  and  ecclesiastical 
establishments  would  be  much  str~ngthened,  I  shall  con- 
fine myself  to  the  state  of  New- York,  where  the  Episcopal 
clergymen  are  more  numerous,  in  proportion  to  the  po- 
pulation, than  in  any  other  state,  and  superintended 
undoubtedly  by  the  most  active  Bishop. 

In  this  large  state  the  clergy  of  the  Episcopal  Church 
are  in  number  136;  the  population  two  millions,  or  up- 
wards of  14,000  souls  to  each ;  the  square  miles  about 
46,000.  Hence  the  parishes,  if  we  may  so  denominate 
them,  contain  338  square  miles,  and  are  rather  equal  to 
an  English  county  than  an  English  parish.  The  influ- 
ence of  the  two  Churches,  as  confined  to  England  and 
New- York,  is  as  one  to  seventy ;  and  if  the  comparison 
be  taken  with  all  the  states,  it  becomes  much  more 
favourable  to  England.  Such  influence  on  the  manners 
and  habits  of  the  people  is  next  to  nothiiig,  and  yet  you 
extol  your  Church  above  that  of  England,  and  exclaim 


45 


against  cstabliBlimeiits !  Add  to  this,  the  dependence  of 
your  clergy  upon  tlio  people  for  support — a  stole  of 
tilings  which  is  attended  with  most  pernicious  conse- 
quences. The  congregations  frequently  take  offence  at 
their  pastors  without  a  good  reason,  and  in  such  cases 
the  latter  derive  no  protection  from  the  Bishops,  who 
are  equally  helpless  with  themselves.  There  are  doubt- 
less many  splendid  exceptions,  but,  in  general,  the  clergy, 
of  all  denominations  in  the  United  States,  are  miserably 
dependent  upon  their  congregations.  The  i  osult  is,  that 
they  too  frequently  sink  below  the  rank  which  they  ought 
to  hold  in  society ;  and  whatever  be  their  personal  merit, 
they  fail  to  command  that  respect  from  a  vain,  and 
thoughtless,  and  undiscerning  people,  which  is  necessary 
to  secure  attention  to  their  instructions.  It  is  not  unusual 
to  hire  clergymen  by  the  year,  or  even  half  year ;  and 
such  things  excite  no  particular  attention.  It  may  bCy 
that,  accustomed  from  their  childhood  to  temporary  en- 
gagements, the  clergy  partake  of  that  restless  disposition 
and  desire  of  change  so  common  in  new  countries,  and 
think  little  of  going  with  their  familic8  from  state  to 
state,  in  search  of  a  new  settlement.  It  cannot  Ibe  sup- 
posed that  clergymen  so  situated,  will  at  all  times  speak 
with  that  fearless  disregard  of  consequences  which  the 
proper  discharge  of  their  duty  may  often  require.  The 
difference,  then,  of  the  two  Churches  is  this,  that  while 
in  England  the  country  is  partitioned  into  parishes,  over 
which  a  spiritual  head  is  appointed,  to  be  the  moral  and 
religious  instructor  of  its  population,  and  to  add  new 
converts  to  the  faith  by  familiar  and  daily  ministrations 
from  house  to  house ;  the  Church  in  the  United  States 
presents  only  a  few  verdant  spots  bearing  marks  of 
recent  cultivation,  distinguished  chiefly  by  their  contrast 
with  the  barrenness  of  the  surrounding  waste.     It  is  the 


I 


40 

duty  of  Christian  imtiuns  to  conHtitutc,  within  thoir 
boundaries,  ecclesiastical  establishments;  and  since  the 
general  consent  of  all  nations  has  been  admitted  as  an 
argument  in  favour  of  the  Divine  Existence,  so  the  public 
profession  of  religion  by  every  people,  proves  that  it  is  a 
primary  law  of  human  nature  to  honour  and  worship  the 
gods:  how  much  more  then  is  it  the  duty  of  every  state 
where  the  Gospel  has  been  embraced,  to  recognise  the 
religion  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  to  make  provision  that  his 
ordinances  bo  honoured  and  maintained !  A  family  or 
nation  owes  its  existence  to  God  as  much  as  an  individual, 
and  is  as  much  the  subject  of  his  moral  law;  but,  the 
moment  that  any  family  or  state  believes  the  Bible,  they 
are  bound  by  the  light  of  nature  and  the  moral  law  t» 
profess  the  religion  which  it  enjoins.  Nor  is  it  enough 
for  every  member  of  the  family  to  profess  his  faith  in 
Christ — ^there  must  be  family  profession  and  family  v 
ship.  Again,  in  a  nation  believing  the  Gospel,  thv..o 
must  be  national  profession  and  national  worship.  The 
nation  that  establishes  Paganism,  is  a  pagan  nation; 
that  which  recognises  Popery,  is  u  popish  nation;  but 
the  nation  which  recognises  no  religion,  is  an  atheistical 
nation.  It  were  easy  to  show  that  Scripture  is  clear 
and  explicit  on  these  points,  and  that  the  Church,  though 
erected  for  a  spiritual  purpose,  exists  in  the  world  as  an 
external,  visible  society :  it  ought  to  be  chartered  by  the 
legislature,  as  an  expression  of  homage  to  the  Son  of 
God;  not  that  this  'uuld  interfere  with  the  peculiar 
tenets  and  modes  of'  worship  of  those  who  dissent  from 
the  national  religion,  provided  there  is  nothing  in  them 
hurtful  to  the  general  interests  of  society,  or  dangerous 
to  the  lawful  institutions  of  the  country.  Nor  is  this  all. 
It  is  the  duty  of  the  legislature  to  make  for  the  Church 
thus  chartered,  th^t  temporal  provision  which  it  requires, 


T 


47 

and  which  those  of  tho  Btato  may  admit.  For  it  in  an 
incumbent  upon  nations  as  upon  individuals  to  lionoui' 
the  Lord  with  their  substance ;  and  it  is  predicted,  that 
the  kings  of  the  earth  shall  not  only  fall  down  before  the 
King  of  Zion,  but  shall  bring  forward  and  offer  gifls. 
What,  it  will  be  said,  is  the  legislature  to  be  tho  judge 
of  what  is  a  pure,  and  what  is  a  corrupt  profession  of 
Christianity?  I  say,  Yes.  The  legislature  is  not  to 
dictate  to  the  people  in  matters  of  faith,  but,  in  moking 
a  national  profession  of  religion,  they  must  judge  which 
profession  is  agreeable  to  the  word  of  God,  and  conse- 
quently conducive  to  the  welfare  of  the  nation.  The 
truth  lies  as  open  to  them  as  to  other  men,  and  is  to  be 
ascertained  in  the  same  manner.  It  is  also  to  be  rc- 
me  mberod,  that  the  proper  object  of  such  laws  is  not  the 
doctrines  and  ordinances  of  Christianity,  but  the  external 
profession  and  observance  of  them,  as  requiring  defence 
and  maintenance :  but,  in  doing  so,  they  do  not  dictate- 
to  people's  consciences,  nor  impose  this  religion  ;«pou 
any  one ;  they  merely  give  it  legal  countenance  and  sup- 
port ;  and  this  much  every  Christian  nation  is  bound  in 
duty  to  do. 

But,  notwithstanding  all  this,  I  admit  that  the  progress 
of  the  Episcopal  Protestant  Church  in  the  United  States 
has  been  wonderful,  and  that  she  carries  with  her  the 
divine  blessing ;  and  believing,  as  I  do,  that  she  will  not 
only  far  outstrip  all  other  denominations,  but  that  the 
communion  of  which  she  is  a  part,  is  destined  to  evan- 
gelize the  whole  world,  I  should  have  rejoiced  in  concur- 
ring entirely  in  the  animated  praises  you  pronounce  upon 
her,  had  you  not  condemned  ecclesiastical  establishments, 
and  placed  her  in  her  infancy  above  the  mother  Church. 
In  this  you  greatly  err;  and  when  you  picture  to  your 
fancy  England  studded  with  parish  rburrhes.  rr<ruiarl> 


48 


served  in  all  the  beauty  of  holiness,  and  turn  to  this 
country,  witli  a  church  at  vast  intervals,  and  a  clergy 
not  sufficient  to  suppl)^  the  wants  of  one-twentieth  of  the 
population,  you  must  feel  the  advantages  of  an  ecclesias- 
tical establishment.  In  England,  you  behold  the  genius 
of  true  religion  entering  into  every  family;  but  here, 
unless  in  some  favoured  spots,  you  behold  the  spirit  of 
false  religion,  infidelity,  error,  and  superstition  trav'^rsing 
the  length  and  breadth  of  the  land,  and  withering  with 
its  pestilential  breath,  public  as  well  ns  domestic  and 
personal  happiness  and  virtue.  Come,  said  the  Bishop, 
you  are  becoming  too  severe.  On  this  the  door  opened, 
and  a  man  from  the  Catskill  Mountains  was  introduced, 
who  told  the  Bishop  that  their  missiona«'y's  time  had 
almost  expired,  and  that,  being  few  in  number,  they 
could  not  engage  him  for  six  months  longer,  unless  some 
rAd  could  be  granted  them  from  the  missionary  fund. 
The  good  Bishop  promised  the  necessary  assistance; 
and  an  his  departure,  saM,  with  a  smile.  How  unlucky, 
that  my  country  friend  should  come,  in  the  midst  of  this 
discussion,  to  show  the  nakedness  of  the  land !  He  con- 
fessed that  I  had  placed  ecclesiastical  establisments  in  a 
point  of  view  which  was  in  some  measure  new  to  him ; 
but,  made  up  as  the  United  States  are  of  all  possible 
denominations,  there  was  not  tlie  smallest  probability 
that  any  one  would  be  ever  recog^Alsed  by  the  govern- 
ment ;  and  he  was  pleased  to  conclude  the  conver^^ation 
with  observing,  that  he  could  not  fall  into  mon  friendly 
hands,  and  that,  whatever  his  opinion  might  be  on  eccle- 
siastical establishments,  he  loved  with  all  his  soul  the 
Church  of  England.  ' 

On  reaching  London,  I  found  that  the  Bishop's  sermon 
had  made  no  small  noise  among  the  clergy ;  some  were 
oiTended,  anvi  all  regretted  that  a  person  whom  they  had 


49 


cherished  and  esteemed,  should  have  gone  so  far  out  of 
his  way  to  attack  the  (Jhurch,  of  which  he  had  so  fre- 
quently testified  his  admiration.  Nor  could  they  account 
for  his  dedicating  such  a  sermon  to  Joshua  Watson,  Esq. 
a  gentleman  particularly  distinguished  as  an  affectionate 
member  of  the  united  Church  of  England  and  Ireland, 
and  whose  life  had  ever  been  devoted  to  the  advancements 
of  her  best  interests.  As  the  treasurer  of  the  Society 
for  Promoting  Christian  Knowledge,  as  an  active  mem- 
ber of  the  Commission  for  Building  Churches,  and  a  firm 
but  mild  supporter  of  all  her  institutions,  his  services 
had  been  invaluable,  and  always  gratuitously  given.  It 
could  not  therefore  be  pleasant  for  one  of  his  feelings 
and  sentiments  to  be  thus  brought  before  the  public  as 
the  friend  and  patron  of  a  most  uncompromising  censurer 
of  the  Church  he  loved.  In  most  points,  indeed,  counter- 
statements  might  have  been  easily  made,  and  in  some, 
the  tables  effectually  turned;  but  Mr.  Watson's  kind  and 
amiable  disposition  is  not  formed  for  controversy. 

The  feeling  of  regret,  perhaps  of  oflt'ence,  was  at  first 
somewhat  aggravated  among  the  friends  of  the  Church, 
because  they  had  considered  Bishop  Hobart  one  of  them- 
selves, and  because  his  opinions  were  eagerly  caught  at 
and  exultingly  brought  forward  by  the  Laodiceans  of  the 
establishment.  But  all  bitterness  soon  passed  away,  and 
if  something  of  disappointment  and  mortification  fingered 
for  a  season,  they  are  long  sincr  neutralized  and  subdued 
into  something  like  that  which  is  contained  in  the  follow- 
ing extract  from  a  letter  of  one  of  tliC  Bishop's  most  able 
and  candid  correspondents — "  I  admire  the  sermon,  as 
an  excellent  stroke  of  policy ;  you  could  not  more  effec- 
tually have  conveyed  the  sensation  to  your  whole  diocese, 
and  indeed  throughout  the  states,  thar  the  twenty-horse 
power,  whose  energies  had  been  for  two  years  suspended. 


50 


was  at  work  again,  and  I  have  no  doubt  have  called  the 
attention  of  your  whole  cofnniunion  to  youiself  with  all 
the  enthusiasm  of  popularity.  I  have  little  doubt  also 
that  ydur  sermon  will  conciliate  esteem  and  awaken  con- 
sideration among  aliens,  and  tl^a^  Episcopacy  will  become 
more  in  favour;  and  nothing  will  rejoice  me  more  than 
such  an  effect."^  That  the  sermoi)  did  much  towards 
producing  those  happy  results,  and  removing  many  pre- 
judices which  had  been  entertained  in  the  United  States 
against  the  Church,  will  bf$  readily  granted;  and  to  pro- 
duce good,  and  not  evt),  was  undoubtedly  the  Bishop's 
intention  in  its  publication ;  it  was  the  signal  of  his  return 
with  renovated  powers,  to  labour  for  the  good  of  liis 
beloved  diocese,  and  the  whole  Episcopal  communion. 
Soon  was  his  presence  manifest,  in  the  life  and  energy 
which  he  communicated  to  his  clergy;  he  seemed,  as  it 
were,  to  multijily  himself,  and  to  rejoice  in  the  increase 
of  his  duties;  as  if  he  wished,  by  redoubled  activity  and 
exertion,  to  make  up  for  his  long  absence.  It  is  not  easy 
to  communicate  to  a  clergyman  of  an  estabHshed  Church 
the  variety  and  extent  of  his  labours.  His  care  of  his 
large  parish,  his  attention  to  the  numerous  societies  and 
institutions  of  the  Church,  his  vast  correspondence,  and 
incessant  calls  for  sermons  and  addresses  on  public  occa- 
sions, were  far  more  than  sufficient  to  overwhelm  the 
strongest  mind;  and  yet  the  greatest  labour  remains  to 
be  mentioned,  namely,  his  a'lnual  progress  through  his 
diocese,  in  every  part  of  which  congregations  have  been 
formed,  or  are  forming.  Many  are  the  places  where  our 
Church  is  now  unknown,  said  the  Bishop,  in  his  last  ad- 

*  I  mentioned  to  some  friends  in  London,  my  wish  to  review  the  Bishop's 
sermon,  but  was  informed  that  an  article  on  the  subject  had  already  been 
prepared.  ^  appeared  in  the  British  Critic,  but  was  too  much  in  the  spirit 
of  retaliatioii  i  J  be  useful.  The  writer  knew  little  or  nothing  of  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  Church  in  the  United  States,  and  was  dry,  querulous,  and  unsatis- 
factory Having  no  desire  to  prolong  the  controversy,  and  loving  Bishop 
Ilobart  notwithstanding,  I  let  tlie  matter  drop. 


51 

dress  to  the  annual  convention  of  his  clergy  in  1820, 
hut  \Vhere  it  would  be  cstahlishcd,  if  missionaries  could 
be  procured.  The  want  of  clergymen  seriously  retards 
the  progress  of  the  Church.  During  the  visitation  which 
he  had  just  finished,  and  of  which,  according  to  the 
canons,  he  was  giving  an  account  to  his  assembled  clergy, 
he  had  confirmed  1299  persons  in  forty  or  fifty  different 
places,  at  all  of  which  he  preached;  he  had  held  twelve 
ordinations  and  consecrated  eight  churches;  and  in  dis- 
charging these  important  duties,  and  visiting  the  different 
congregations  and  growing  settlements,  he  had  passed 
through  the  greater  part  of  his  vast  diocese,  and  travelled 
nearly  ^KK)  miles.  Similar  journies  and  labours  were 
made  every  year,  and  his  return  to  New- York  was  a 
return,  not  to  ease,  but  to  increase  of  labour.  On  this 
occasion  he  made  three  visits  to  the  Oneida  Indians,  a 
tribe  of  the  aborigines,  which  still  continue  within  the 
state  of  New- York,  and  which  had  been  at  former  times 
the  object  of  his  earnest  solicitude.  The  incidents  will 
intei-est  you.  "  On  the  21st  July,  I  visited  the  congrega- 
tion of  the  Indians  on  the  Oneida  Reservation,  and  was 
inexpressibly  griatified  wii..  the  evidence  afforded,  by 
many  of  them^  of  piety  andCliristian  zeal.  Their  judi- 
cious and  faithful  catechist  and  instructor,  Mr.  Solomon 
Davis,  presented  ninety-seven  for  confirmation,  whom  he 
had  previously  instructed  and  prepared  fortius  holy  rite. 
On  my  first  visit,  a  number  of  years  before,  1  had  con- 
firmed nearly  the  same  number,  and' at  subsequent  visits 
others  were  confirmed.  It  could  not  but  excitr  'lie  most 
gratifying  emotions  to  find  them  still  advancing  in  Chris- 
tian knowledge  and  in  attachment  to  our  Church,  in 
whose  liturgy  they  joined  with  affecting  simpHcity  and 
dovotion.  On  the  30th,  I  againr  visited  the  Oneidas,  to 
attend  their  chief  in  a  council  to  request  my  advice  as  to 

* 

some  particulars  in  relation  to  their  spiritual  interests. 


52 


The  scene  was  to  inc  novel  and  highly  interesting.  An 
ancient  butternut  grove,  from  time  immemorial  their 
council-ground,  was  the  place  where  their  chiefs  and 
warriors  assembled  and  arranged  themselves  in  circles, 
within  which  the  clergy  and  myself  were  seated.  Groups 
of  young  men,  and  women,  and  children  were  scattered 
round  the  assemblage,  regarding,  with  evident  attention 
and  interest,  what  was  said  and  done.  The  address  to 
me  of  one  of  the  chiefs,  the  speech  of  another  to  the 
natives,  and  the  final  address  of  the  orator,  were  marked 
by  great  good  sense,  and  by  simple  and  commanding 
eloquence.  On  the  14th  of  September  I  again  visited 
the  church  of  Oneida,  and  admitted  the  Rev.  Solomon 
Davis,  and  the  Rev.  Jos.  B.  Young,  deacons,  to  the 
order  of  priests.  On  this  occasion,  a  pertinent  and 
affecting  address,  drawn  up,  at  the  request  of  the  chiefs, 
by  a  young  Indian  who  had  received  a  good  English 
education,  was  read  to  me  in  their  name,  in  which  they 
requested  me  to  recognise  Mr.  Davis  as  their  permanent 
pastor.  This  was  done  in  a  simple,  significant  ceremony 
suggested  by  them:  the  chiefs  standing  behind  each 
other,  each  placed  his  hands  on  the  shoulders  of  the  one 
before  him,  and  the  first  on  the  shoulders  of  Mr.  Davis, 
whom  I  held  by  the  right  hand  while  I  replied  to  their 
address.  By  this  ceremony  they  wished  to  signify  that  a 
strong  band  of  union  was  fprmed  between  them,  their 
pastor,  and  their  Bishop." 

The  period  of  this  zealous  prelate's  earthly  labours 
was  fast  drawing  to  a  close;  and  although  he  lived  to 
commence  another  visitation,  and  had  even  made  some 
progress  through  his  diocese,  he  was  not  permitted  to 
bring  it  to  an  end;  but  was  removed,  when  .a  the  midst 
of  his  journey,  and  at  a  great  distance  from  home,  to  a 
better  world  than  this,  at  the  comparatively  early  age  of 
fifty-five.     For  nearly  five  years  after  his  return  from 


53 

Europe  he  had  been  spared  as  a  shining  light  to  hi.-^ 
clergy  and  people,  and  every  year  increased  their  aftec- 
tion  and  raised  him  in  their  estimation. 

I  dare  not  dwell  on  his  last  illness  and  his  happy  and 
edifying  death,  for  they  have  been  described  with  an 
affectionate  eloquence  which  few  can  hope  to  equal. 
The  narrative  of  his  closing  days,  and  the  sermons 
preached  on  his  death,  which  have  been  collected  and 
published,  are  well  deserving  of  your  perusal.  Honour- 
able as  they  are  to  the  hearts  and  heads  of  the  writers, 
the  talents  they  display  reflect  the  greatest  credit  on  the 
clergy  of  the  American  Episcopal  Church,  and  show  that 
the  lamented  prelate's  mantle  rests  on  many  of  his 
brethren.  The  grief  and  sympathy  excited  by  his  death, 
through  all  parts  of  the  Union,  were  only  exceeded  by 
that  manifested  upon  the  death  of  Washington.  He 
appeared  rather  the  property  of  the  nation  than  the  iiead 
of  a  single  denomination  of  Christians.  Never  was  there 
such  a  funeral  in  New- York :  the  magistrates,  the  clergy 
of  all  denominations  in  the  city,  and  many  from  other 
dioceses  and  remote  parts  of  the  country,  rich  and  poor, 
young  and  old,  hastened  to  follow  to  the  grave  the  re- 
mains of  this  distinguished  and  beloved  servant  of  God 
— it  was  the  funeral  of  Jacob. 

Within  three  short  weeks  after  the  death  of  Bishop 
Hobart,  1  passed  through  the  village  of  Auburn,  and 
remaining  over  Sunday,  preached  in  the  church  where 
the  lamented  prelate  had  delivered  his  last  sermon.  I 
had  thus  the  benefit  of  becoming  acquainted  with  the 
friend  of  his  youth,  the  amiable  and  excellent  Dr.  Rudd, 
who  ministered  so  kindly,  affectionately,  and  unweariedly 
to  the  comforts  of  his  last  moments.  Our  conversation 
naturally  turned  on  the  recent  loss  which  the  Church 
had  sustained,  and  the  Doctor  mentioned  several  inter- 
esting traits  of  Iijs  illustrious  friend,  with  so  much  good 


54 


.^eiise,  swcetnesa;,  and  piety,  as  left  on  my  mind  a  very 
lavourable  opinion  of  his  cliaracter  and  attainments ;  and 
I  cannot  but  au«:ur  favourably  of  a  Church  that  can  spare 
a  pastor  of  his  great  experience  and  ability  for  one  of  its 
more  remote  villages. 

It  is  pleasing  to  reflect  on  the  great  exertions  which 
the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  has  been  for  some  time 
making  to  disseminate  Christian  knowledge,  and  the 
blessing  with  which  they  have  been  attended.  The 
prospects  before  her  are  encouraging  and  glorious ;  she 
extends  her  arms  to  the  east  and  to  the  west,  offering 
salvation  to  all  nations;  she  call^  upon  her  sons  and 
daughters  to  hold  fast  their  profession,  and  upon  the 
heathen  among  whom  they  live,  to  save  their  souls  aliv«. 
With  her  missionary  Bishops  superintending  and  direct- 
ing, in  unity  and  love,  the  labours  of  her  clei^,  and 
carrying  in  their  hands  the  Bible  and  a  scriptural  liturgy, 
i^he  proceeds  with  advanfages  which  no  other  Christian 
denomination  ever  possessed.  But,  brilliant  as  this  pic- 
ture is,  we  find  it  sprinkled  with  spots  of  darkness. 
*The  first  Bishop  of  Quebec,  the  four  first  Bishops  of 
Calcutta,  and  now  the  Bishop  of  New-York,  (for  he  too 
was  a  missionary  Bishop,  as  well  as  those  of  Quebec, 
Calcutta,  and  Nova-Scotia,)  have  been  called,  by  the 

*  It  ought  to  be  remembered,  that  the  late  Dr.  Mountain,  Lord  Bishop  of 
Quebec,  was  not  only  the  first  Bishop  of  the  see,  but  the  first  missionary 
Bishop  ever  sent  out  from  the  Church  of  England.  I  have  attempted,  ii*  a 
sermon  some  time  before  the  public,  to  do  some  justice  to  the  character  of 
this  eminent  prelate,  who,  for  thirt}'-five  years,  governed  the  Church  in  the 
Canadas,  and  "  laid  a  fair  foundation  for  the  diffusion  of  Christianity  through 
that  extensive  country,  according  to  the  apostolic  principles  of  the  Church  of 
England,  which,  arrayed  in  her  beautiful  garments,  is  turning  darkness  into 
light,  and  sowing  those  seeds  of  righteousness  and  truth  which  shall  spring 
up  and  bloom  for  ever." 

Of  living  prelates  I  may  not  speak,  or  I  might  say  much  of  the  vigilance 
and  labours  of  his  pious  and  primitive  successor  in  the  see  of  Quebec,  as 
well  as  those  of  the  eloquent,  and  faithful,  a:,d  uncompromising  Bishop  of 
Nova-Scotia,  who  lately  travelled  ten  thousand  miles  by  sea  and  land,  visiting 
his  extensive  diocese. 


\ 


53 


\ 


decree  of  a  mysterious  Providence,  to  give  an  account  of 
their  stewardship.     To  them  all,  for  they  were  wortliy, 
it  will  be  the  duty  of  future  historians  of  the  Church  to 
do  instice ;  but  the  many  points  of  resemblance  which  I 
perceive,  or  think  1  perceive,  between  the  two  first  pre- 
lates of  the  East  and  the  subject  of  this  letter,  place 
them  in  the  same  tablet,  and  will  hand  them  down  to- 
gether, for  the  edification  and  instruction  of  the  people, 
and  the  imitation  of  church  rulers,  to  the  latest  genera- 
tions.    I  do  not  presume  to  say  that  the  resemblance  is 
complete ;  for  each  was  better  fitted  for  his  own  particular 
station,  as  to  place  and  time,  than  any  of  the  other  two 
would  have  been,  and  yet  they  were  equally  meritorious. 
To  all  three  belonged  an  activity  and  cheerfulness  of 
spirit  which  no  disaj^ointments  or  annoyances  could 
embitter  or  depress.     Never  did  any  Christian  Bishops 
leave  more  solid  proofs  of  unwearied  goodness,   or  of 
more  ardent  keenness  to  discharge  the  duties  of  their 
sacred  office.     Their  zeal  had  nothing  of  ostentation, 
nor  their  devotedness  of  weakness ;  nor  did  they  consider 
any  sacrifice  too  great,  in  promoting  the  glory  of  God 
and  the  salvation  of  men.     To  an  attractive  simplicity 
of  heart,  and  pathetic  but  commanding  eloquence,  they 
added  enlarged  wisdom,  sagacious  discernment,  manly 
energy,  tempered  by  mildness,  anJ  an  uncompromising 
firmness  in  supporting  sound  principles,  and  condemning 
expediency,  in  matters  of  religion.     With  the  most  win- 
ning kindness  they  took  part  in  the  laborious  duties  of 
their  brethren  the  clergy;  and  encouraging  them,  by 
word  and  deedi,  to  proceed  in  the  most  arduous  of  their 
undertakings  with  an  assured  hope  of  final  success,  they 
never  failed  of  increasing  their  zeal  and  raising  every 
latent  faculty  into  action.    To  look  at  them,  so  humble  ii» 
their  deportment,  though  so  highly  gifted;  so  venerable, 
and  yet  so  condescending;  so  primitive  and  apostolic-. 


56 

tiiough  adorned  with  all  learning;  inviting  friendship  by 
their  amiable  manners,  and  conciliating  all  hearts  by 
their  generous  frankness — is  one  of  the  most  delightful 
spectacles  that  this  world  has  to  exhibit.     Noble  is  the 
example  which  their  lives  present  of  unqualified  self- 
devotion  and  unreserved  dedication  of  themselves  to  tho 
holy  cause  which  they  had  undertaken,  of  deliberate  and 
voluntary  rejection  of  ease  and  comfort,  and  of  fixedness 
of  purpose  to  spend  and  be  spent  in  propagating  the 
Gospel.     In  this  single  object  all  their  powers  and  re- 
sources, uncommonly  endowed  as  they  were  by  nature 
and  education,  were  entirely  concentrated.    Nor  is  their 
example  lost;  it  Hves  in  the  hearts  of  thousands,  and 
will,  from  age  to  age,  be  renewed  in  ministers  of  Christ 
crucified,  till  time  shall  be  no  more.   Though  removed  at 
a^  early  age,  (Bishop  Hobart,  the  eldest,  being  scarcely 
fifty-five,)  they  have  left  an  imperishable  name ;  nor  in 
their  deaths  were  they  divided ;  for  while  glorifying  God 
on  earth,  they  were  summoned  to  glorify  him  in  heaven. 
But  1  must  conclude.     Never  were  the  happy  results 
of  perseverance,  on  steady  principle  and  singleness  of 
purpose,  more  conspicuous  than  those  produced  by  these 
venerable  Fathers  in  the  Lord ;  they  are  glorious  monu- 
ments of  what  may  be  accomplished  by  men  who  seek 
not  their  own,  but  the  things  of  Cod,  and  who  regard  not 
as  matters  of  indifference  the  doctrines  and  discipline  of 
the  primitive  Church,  or  admit  the  mere  profession  of 
orthodox  opinions,  to  shelter  a  cold,  heartless,  and  care- 
less disposition ;  but  who,  like  these  holy  prelates,  display 
on  their  banner,  in  the  spirit  of  true  faith  working  through 
love — "  The  advancement   of  the  kingdom  of  Christ 
throughout  the  world,  by  evangelical  truth  and  apostolic 
order."     I  remain,  &c.  d&c.  &c. 


L 


York,  Upper-Canada,  8tlx  May,  1832. 


JOHN  STRACHAN. 


